Quantico High
by Iron Rose Writer
Summary: High School AU. Derek's the new kid at Quantico High. He's not looking to make friends, he just wants to get through these last two years of high school and be done with it. Just a peaceful Junior year, is that too much to ask? {NO SLASH. Canon pairings. No OC. Lots of characters}
1. First Day - Derek Morgan

**A/N: Hello! Iron Rose here. Here's what you need to know for this: High school AU, Absolutely no OC's (everyone is actually a CM character, many are UnSubs). This chapter follows Morgan.**

 **Disclaimer's on my profile.**

 **Don't forget to leave any questions, comments, or snide remarks in a review!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Monday, 8/17/2015

* * *

Derek Morgan did not know what to expect when he walked into his new high school, Quantico high. His family had just moved from Chicago and it was his first day. No friends, no expectations.

The hallways were crowded with sweaty teens, no surprise there. He noticed the different friend groups hovering by different lockers. Jocks, nerds, druggies, socialites; nothing new there. Analyzing people had become a survival instinct over the years, Chicago was not exactly what one would call a safe city. He shuddered at the thought.

Derek looked down at the paper in his hand. It was his schedule and locker assignment. He glanced up at the nearest locker, noticed its number, and headed off in the right direction. He had to force his way through the crowds of bodies. He hoped the crowdedness was due it being the first day and friends were just getting reacquainted.

Derek groaned when he spotted his locker. There, pressed up against it, was a scrawny little freshman. The kid was surrounded by three bigger boys, obviously tormenting the pip squeak. At first, he considered not getting involved, it was his first day after all, he did not want to make any enemies, but his conscience got the better of him.

As he approached the bullies, he could hear the conversation going on between them and the victim.

"Come on, Billy," the kid pleaded. "I don't want-"

The leader of the group, Billy, interrupted him, "Since when have I ever cared about what want?"

Billy's lackeys laughed as if that was the funniest thing in the world. One spoke up, "Hey, let's shove him in his locker."

Now it was Billy's turn to laugh, "Not a bad idea, Dowd." He gestured to the other boy. "Pop it open."

Derek had enough. He tapped Billy on the shoulder. The bully turned to him with a sneer. "What?"

Derek pointed to the locker the kid was about to be shoved into. "That's my locker. I would prefer it if you didn't put a kid in it."

By this point the other boys had quit trying to put the kid in his locker. Billy's sneer deepened. "Really? And who are you to stop my fun?"

"Name's Derek Morgan," he said calmly. "Now, I'd like to get stuff, so…."

Billy took the hint, but his face contorted in anger. "Whatever." He turned to his lackeys. "Drop the kid. Let's go."

The one Billy had called Dowd earlier did not take it was well. "What?!"

"C'mon. It's not worth crap now," said the other bully, following Billy as he stormed off. Dowd followed too, but not before punching the kid hard enough to bruise. The kid crumpled to the floor, gripping his shoulder.

Derek paused for a moment, then held out his hand to help the kid up. The younger boy looked at it and shook his head. "Sorry, I don't shake. It's actually-" the kid began before cutting himself off.

Derek looked at the kid in confusion. "I'm trying to help you off the floor, kid."

Said kid's eyes widened like saucers. "Oh, right. Sorry," he said, picking himself up without assistance. Derek just shrugged it off. Now that the other boy was standing he could get a better look at him. The kid had chin-length, wavy, brown hair. His eyes were a warm brown and his skin was incredibly pale. He was skinny and short. He wore large glasses, khaki pants, a button up, and a sweater vest. All in all, the kid looked like a tiny college professor.

Then he noticed something strange. "What you doing down here anyway? I thought the freshman lockers were up front."

The kid just sighed as if he had been through all this before. "I'm actually a junior."

Derek's eyebrows knit together. "But you're so small."

The kid groaned. "Yes, I'm short. Your point?" the kid snapped.

The bigger boy just laughed. Seeing the kid pout was hilarious. "I'm Derek Morgan." he introduced.

The kid nodded. "I know. You told Billy."

Derek blinked. He had totally forgotten about that. "Right. What was that anyway?"

"Billy Flynn, Philip Dowd, and Chase Whitaker. They have assigned themselves to the job of making my life hell," moaned the kid.

Derek chuckled. The kid's humor was dry as the desert. The first bell rang and the kid jumped. "I gotta get to class," he said in a panic. The kid grabbed his books from his locker and turned to go.

"Wait a sec, kid," Derek called. "I didn't get your name."

The boy blinked. "It's Spencer Reid," he said and ran off.

* * *

Derek glanced around his English classroom. On the walls hung the usual posters encouraging students to be sweet and kind and to not be mean. He scoffed at them. It was like reasoning with a newborn-impossible.

The room already contained a few students as well as the teacher, Alex Blake. She was tall with pretty, long, wavy, brown hair. She had a caring smile and it instantly put Derek at ease. She pointed him to his seat.

Derek's seat was next to a dark haired girl who looked to be sleeping. He glanced at her books, trying to discreetly find out her name.

"Don't steal my stuff," ordered a feminine voice

Derek glanced up at the girl. Apparently, she was not asleep.

He was about to ask her name, when another girl came in and sat directly in front of his new neighbor. The newest girl had long, straight blond hair. She wore a smile that Derek found odd, seeing as it was Monday and the first day of high school.

"Hey Emily," the new girl said.

The long haired girl, Emily, cracked an eye open. "Yes, JJ?"

"I know you're not a morning person, but you shouldn't stay up so late," JJ teased.

That got the sleepy girl's attention. "It's not my fault. Ian won't leave me alone."

"Just dump him already," the blonde girl commented snidely. She snapped her attention to him. "Hi. Name's Jennifer Jareau, but everyone calls me JJ. I'm a sophomore. You are?"

"Derek Morgan. Junior" He held out his hand to shake. "You shake right?"

She shook his hand and grinned at him. "I see you've met Spencer."

The brunette laughed. "Did he tell you the kissing thing?

Derek shook his head. "Not sure what you're talking about, but I saved him from some bullies who were trying to shove him in my locker."

The Emily girl sat up, immediately concerned. "It was Billy Flynn again, wasn't it?"

Derek nodded.

The girl sighed. "We gotta talk to Hotch about this, JJ. It's getting out of hand."

JJ nodded in agreement. "Thanks for the info," she said to him. Turning to the other girl, she hissed, "Introduce yourself."

The brunette sighed again. "Emily Prentiss." Then she closed her eyes and went back to pretending to sleep.

More students piled into the classroom. Among them were two of the bullies from before. Billy Flynn and Philip Dowd, if he remembered correctly. They shot him dirty looks from across the room.

Other than that first development, the hour passed by quickly. Mrs. Blake introduced herself to the class, went over the syllabus, and had the class discuss their summer reading. Not many people talked. Derek doubted most even did the reading. He certainly did not. Soon, the bell rang and he was off to Trig.

* * *

Derek had found his new least favorite class. Trig sucked. Math had never been his strong suit but this was torture. Emily was in it too, but she sat on the opposite side of the room. The teacher was named Henry Grace. Derek had to say that that man had the weirdest thing going on in his outfit. The man wore a white suit. A suit. In a public high school. In August. He had to be crazy.

Mr. Grace also seemed to have it out for another student in the class. Unfortunately, said student happened to sit right behind him.

"Hey, new kid," hissed the trouble magnet.

Derek did his best to ignore him but after the boy's fifth try, he whispered back, "What?"

"I'm David Rossi. You can call me Dave. What's your name?"

"Derek."

"Mr. Rossi, Mr. Morgan" Mr. Grace said loudly. Derek's attention immediately whipped back to the front. Dave, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair, head resting on his hands.

"Sup, teach?" he mocked.

"Do you really want to see Mrs. Strauss on your first day back?" Grace asked, raising an eyebrow. A gasp came from the back row. Apparently, this Strauss was not someone to mess with.

With a defeated sigh, Dave slumped into his chair. His smug grin wiped from his face. "No sir."

Grace turned back to the board and continued his lecture.

* * *

Derek's next class was Chemistry. Then it was lunch. Hopefully, this one would be quick. It was only third hour and he was already sick of school.

He walked into the chemistry lab. Mr. Nichols, the teacher, said it was free sitting. Derek choose a seat at the middle table on the far right side of the room. The tables only sat three. He watched the door to see who else would come in. A few students trickled in, then, to his surprise, Spencer and Emily walked in.

The moody, dark-haired girl was chatting amiably with the tiny junior. The kid seemed happy to see her too. Then Spencer spotted him. The two approached his table.

"Hey Derek. Can Emily and I sit with you?" he asked.

"Sure," he replied. The two sat. Spencer ended up in between him and Emily. That was fine by Derek. Honestly, the girl was a bit intimidating.

Emily and Spencer began to ask Derek questions about himself. He answered most of them but when they started on his past, he shut them down. Those sorts of things needed to stay in Chicago.

They took his standoffishness in stride though. Spencer started rambling off statistics about any number of things, but suddenly fell silent. Derek and Emily instantly noticed.

"Spencer?" asked the dark-haired girl.

The kid just stared at the far back left table. Derek followed his gaze and saw Flynn, Dowd, and Whitaker sitting there, glaring at them.

"Ignore them, kid," Derek said, diverting Spencer's attention away from the bullies.

* * *

"Finally, lunch," Derek sighed in relief.

"Yay! Lunch," Emily cheered sarcastically. "We all get shoved into a giant room filled to the brim with sweaty teenagers and hormones. Gotta love lunch."

"C'mon Emily. It's not that bad," Spencer commented.

They arrived at the lunchroom door and Derek could already hear the buzz of conversation inside. It was going to be really loud inside. He pulled a door open for Emily and Spencer, then came in himself.

He was right. The lunchroom was deafening.

Emily looked over at him and spoke loudly, "Like I said, gotta love lunch."

They quickly went through the lunch line. Afterwards, Emily and Spencer threaded their way through the throngs of students, without anyone else to sit with Derek followed. The three came up to a table, where a colorful blonde girl sat.

As soon as the girl saw them, she squealed. "Emily! Spencer!" She ran up and crushed both of them in a hug. Then she noticed Derek. "Hey," she said coyly. "What brings a chocolate god like yourself to the humble table of this sugar queen?"

Derek grinned. Now this was something he was good at. He bowed dramatically. "My frosting goddess. I was lead here by the black licorice lady and the candy corn boy."

The flirtatious blonde laughed uproariously. "Where have you been all my life? Black licorice lady? That's is the best description of Emily I've ever heard."

"Wait," said a male voice. Derek turned to see Dave and another tall dark haired man. "Description of Emily? This I gotta hear."

"You need to sit down first," she said. They all sat. "Hot stuff here called her 'the black licorice lady'."

Dave immediately started laughing. The other guy though only cracked a small smile. The blonde quickly noticed. "Hotch, stop being so serious," she chided.

"Yeah, Aaron. Live a little," added Dave.

Hotch just gave them a dry glare. He turned to the blonde girl, "Where's JJ?"

"I'm right here Hotch," said the blonde from behind him. She took a seat in between Emily and Dave.

Derek looked around at the people sitting at this table. They obviously all knew each other, he felt like an intruder. He started to stand, but the blonde pulled him back down.

"I didn't get your name, chocolate thunder. I may not use it but still want it." She winked.

"Derek Morgan."

Her smile never dropped. "Penelope Garcia."

He turned to the dark haired boy across from him. "And you?"

"Aaron Hotchner. They all insist on calling me Hotch. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

* * *

Lunch was over too quickly for Derek's liking. The people he had met were interesting to say the least. Hotch was perpetually serious and Penelope was bouncy and cheerful all the time. Dave refused to take most things seriously, he bragged about all the girls he slept with last year and over the summer to him, much to JJ's chagrin. JJ seemed almost out of place among the group; in any other school he would have expected her in the popular group. But she did not seem to care about social standing, he liked that. Emily was still a mystery. Spencer, however, was a boatload of information. Turns out, the kid was a genius. Fourteen and a junior, safe to say Derek had not seen that coming.

This little group was strange, but he liked them. He was just begging to understand the social standing at this school, but he could tell that this little group was not high on popularity. Individually, they could be popular, but as a group, no one would take them. He did not mind though. They were good people.

His next hour was a free period. According to JJ, that meant library or a shop class. Derek wanted to process his day so he picked the library. He found several students inside already working on things. Among them was Spencer and Penelope.

"Hey," he greeted.

Penelope smiled the most flirtatious smile he had ever seen. "Are you stalking me, my precious chocolate lord?"

Spencer groaned. "I'm not going to get anything done with you two around."

Derek grinned. "Sorry, babygirl. But the lovin' is gonna have to wait 'til the children go to bed."

"Quiet, please," asked a young girl from another table. "I'm trying to study."

"Oh, sorry, um…." Spencer said.

"Maeve," she said quietly.

"Right. Sorry, Maeve."

Derek winked conspiratorially at Penelope. "Looks like boy genius has a girlfriend."

Penelope squealed.

* * *

Next up was gym. Derek was excited as he changed out of his jeans and t-shirt. He had been going stir crazy for having to sit around for so long.

He entered the gym and saw Dave and Hotch chatting. He walked over and the two seniors easily made room for him.

"What are we doing today?" he asked them.

The coach blew a whistle and everyone's head turned to him. The man held up a small red ball. Hotch groaned. Dave grinned.

"Dodgeball," they said in unison.

* * *

After the game, Derek quickly slipped on his normal clothes. He did not feel the need to shower. While the game had not been remotely difficult, it was fun and he enjoyed it.

He looked back down at the schedule in his hand. Behavioral psychology with Jason Gideon. He raised his eyebrows as he read the name. What the heck even was that? He just shook his head.

Derek looked up at the wall clock that hung in the locker room. He needed to go if he was going to get there before the bell. He dashed through the halls searching for the right room. He pulled the door open and stepped inside just a the bell rang. He sighed in relief.

"Derek Morgan?" an older voice asked.

He looked up to see a man in his early fifties. Derek nodded.

"Take a seat," the man commanded.

He looked over the classroom, surprised to find it mostly empty. Obviously, this was not a popular class. But what surprised him more was that only the people from his lunch table were here. Maybe this class would not be as strange as he thought.

* * *

 **A/N: These are the UnSubs I used in this chapter. Please note, these characters are not serial killers in this story line.**

 **Name - Season:Episode**

 **Billy Flynn - 5:23 & 6:1**

 **Philip Dowd - 1:6**

 **Chase Whitaker - 7:6**

 **Henry Grace - 4:8**

 **Lawrence** **Nichols - 4:24**


	2. The Project - Jennifer Jareau

**A/N: And we're back! Chapter 2, ladies and gents. This time: JJ!**

 **Quick shout out to my reviewers: SpencerFTW, CriminalOutsider'sGirl14, and DaJa (Anon). It was great seeing your reviews when I woke up. As well as a big thanks to everyone who favorited and followed. I'm so happy that you like this.**

 **Also, a special thank you Tattered-Petals. I read your story, The Misfits, and that inspired me to write this. The rest of you should totally check it out if you haven't already.**

 **Warning: Swearing**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Thursday, 8/20/2015

* * *

They were only on their fourth day of school and JJ was already eager for their next break. She loved her friends and all the teachers were wonderful, except for Frank Breitkopf, the Biology teacher. School just took so much time.

Just then Emily came walking up, arms waving dramatically. "JJ! I don't know what to do about him!"

"Who?" she asked confused.

"Ian. He won't leave me alone. He calls me at least once a day and texts all night. All he wants is to get into my pants," Emily complained.

JJ gave a small chuckle. "If it's like that, then take my previous advice and dump him."

The older girl just sighed. "If he asks for sex again, I will."

The blonde glanced at her watch. "C'mon. We need to get to class."

* * *

When the two girls sat down in their seats, Derek had not arrived. That was strange since he was always there before them. He had been coming in early since Tuesday when he had come to school and found Spence struggling to pull himself out of a trash can that Billy had shoved him into. When Penelope found out, she told Hotch that he needed to do something about it. There had not been any incidents since, but JJ did not know if that was due to Hotch's intervention or Derek's protective streak.

JJ was just glad something was being done about it.

The bell rang and Mrs. Blake began class. About twenty minutes later Derek came in looking rather disheveled.

"What happened to you?" Emily asked, not even trying to hide the disgust in her voice.

"Emily!" JJ chided in a whisper.

"Well, for starters, I was fifteen minutes late to school. Once I got here, I found Spencer trapped in his locker. Some jerkass had but black paper over the slots and there was no light inside. It was easy enough to get him out, but he was crying and I had to calm him down."

JJ knew their was more to the story but she did not press the issue. The tears probably had something to do with Spence's fear of the dark. She was so glad Derek had come to school. Spence needed someone to look after him.

The blonde turned her attention back to the teacher. Emily and Derek kept talking behind her but she tuned them out. Right now, her focus needed to be on school.

* * *

After English came American History. None of her close friends were this class with her. She had Kate Callahan, of course. But Kate was not like her other friends. She had big plans for herself and seemed to always be working.

* * *

JJ's next class, Algebra 2, she took with Penelope. It had not been as difficult as she had expected. Everyone had told her that the teacher, Henry Grace, was strange. JJ did not agree with most their assessments of the man. Aside from his strange fashion sense, he was really good at his job. She learned a lot.

Penelope, on the other hand, was struggling. All you had to do was take one look at the peppy blonde and you could see the horror that came with Algebra 2.

"Pen, do need help?" JJ whispered.

Penelope only nodded. Her nose was scrunched in concentration. JJ tried to explain the problem to the other blonde, but eventually Penelope just shook her head at her.

"I'll get my junior G-man to help me during free hour." She smiled sadly.

JJ could only shrug in sympathy. These positions had been switched in Geometry last year. Everyone in their friend group went to Spence whenever they needed help, even Hotch had asked the kid for help once or twice last year. She did not know why the genius was still in high school, he had told her that he sat bored through most of his classes. But she was glad to have him as a friend regardless.

* * *

Then came lunch. The group of seven always sat at the same table. None of them ever knew why no one else had ever sat there. Dave had once joked that nobody ever sat there because they thought their group's weirdness would rub off. Everyone had laughed.

JJ pulled her lunch from the locker. She and Penelope refused to eat the school lunches. She could never tell what the gunk was and she had no intention of putting any of it in her mouth. Today, she brought an orange, a ham sandwich, and a sugar cookie. She smiled at the cookie. It was the first time Mom had made them since…

JJ pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

As she approached the lunch table, she saw that Penelope and Derek were already flirting and Spence was lecturing Emily on chemical bonds. She sat down and began pulling out her lunch.

As soon as Emily saw the fruit, she asked, "Hey, Spencer. Why don't you tell JJ here about oranges?"

JJ's eyes widened. "Oh, no. That's not-"

But Spence had already turned his professor voice on her. "Oranges are the official state fruit of Florida, and the official flower is the Orange Blossom. In fact, Florida produces about 70% of the total U.S. crop, and 90% of its production goes to make juice. However, Brazil is the world's largest exporter of oranges. Did you know that the orange isn't actually a fruit? It's actually a hesperidium, a type of berry."

Hotch and Dave had shown up by this point. Dave had instantly figured out what was going on. "No, Spencer we didn't know that. Tell us more," he said with a grin.

JJ groaned.

* * *

JJ felt the day breeze by as she sat through Spanish 2 and Biology. The classes were over in the blink of an eye and then she was off to Behavioral Psychology.

She and Penelope walked to their lockers. Pen was upset about the dissection coming up. JJ could see where the girl was coming from. For as long as JJ had known Penelope, the girl had never once frowned, everything about her was sparkly and bright. Cutting up dead things just was not in her. But Mr. Breitkopf had said there were to be no exceptions, everybody had to take part. Hopefully, their next class would cheer her up enough to reawaken the other blonde's spirit.

Once they entered Mr. Gideon's class, Penelope instantly perked up. JJ looked at the class and saw why. Derek was already here. The bubbly blonde made her way over to the young man and they began to talk.

Someone cleared their throat behind her and JJ spun around to find Emily. "Oh, Emily! You scared-" She paused for a minute and sniffed the air. "Why do you smell like smoke?"

"'Cause I was smoking," the dark-haired girl replied dryly.

"Spence won't be happy," JJ said harshly. Emily at least had the courtesy to look abashed. "I thought you were going to quit. For him."

"I know," she said sadly. "But Mom's been on my case all week and I just needed release."

"That's not an excuse he'll take."

"I promise that I won't do it again… Just don't tell him, okay? Please, Jayje?" Emily asked tiredly.

"Fine," she agreed. "But if I smell it again, I'm gonna tell him. And Hotch."

Emily nodded her acceptance and took her seat. JJ took hers as well. Dave and Hotch showed up moments later. The bell rang and Mr. Gideon began class.

"What can you tell me about this school?" he began.

"It averages about 510 students per year, and offers-" Spencer said.

"Not what I meant, Reid."

That was one of Mr. Gideon's strange quirks, JJ supposed. He always called everyone by their last names, sort of like a cop show or an old-timey western movie. Other teachers did that too, like Mr. Grace, but when they did it it was always with a mister or miss. Not Gideon though. With him, it was just the last names.

Mr. Gideon turned to the class. "What I meant was how would you describe the social structure of this school? What are the different groups how do they interact? What could you tell me about them?"

The class of seven was silent for a moment then Derek spoke up. "I've seen several different groups since I started here. But I saw those same groups at my old school too."

"You did? The exact same students acted the exact same way?"

"Well, no. They were different people. But the social structure was the same."

"What does that tell us?"

"People are awful," responded Emily glumly.

Gideon sighed. "True, but not what I was getting at."

"That no matter where we are on earth humans form groups," answered Dave.

"Thank you, Rossi. But what do we have here, in our lives, right now?"

Another silence came over the group as they thought for a moment.

"A chance to learn," Hotch spoke suddenly. All heads turned to him as he continued, "To learn about the people around us. To help them because we can see them struggling."

Gideon smiled. "That's correct, Hotchner. But now the question turns to how can we do that?"

"Help them?" queried Penelope.

"No. See their struggles."

JJ raised her hand. "Empathy? If we can't empathize with them then we can't help them."

"Exactly, Jaroue. That's your assignment," Gideon spoke quickly as the bell was about to ring. "You are to find a person in this school to empathize with. You are not allowed to pick any student in this room or that you are good friends with. This is a long term project. You will be required to write a five page paper on this and turn it in for your final."

The all the students, except Hotch and Spence, groaned at the prospect.

Spence raised his hand. "Are we allowed to become their friend?"

Gideon chuckled. "That the point."

The bell rang and they all collected their things, rushing out the door.

* * *

When JJ returned to her locker, she was surprised to find Will LaMontagne waiting for her. She blushed when she saw him. She had a crush on him back when they were both freshman and had become close friends. When his father died, Will had turned to her for comfort and they mourned him together. He had wanted to give back to the school so he joined the Student Council and had been appointed the event planner.

"Hey," he said to her. Will almost sounded nervous.

She smiled encouragingly at him. "Hey, Will, what's up?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. He was definitely nervous. She began putting all the books she needed into her backpack. "Um, well, you know how I'm the new event planner and all that." She nodded and gestured for him to continue. "I, uh, was wondering if you could help me do Homecoming."

JJ's eyes lit up. "Of course! I'd love to."

He smiled brightly, all the nervousness drained from his body. "Thanks."

"When do you want to meet up to talk about it?" she asked.

Will's chin dropped in surprise. He obviously had not thought this far ahead in his plans. "Uh, you free Saturday? We could go to Jewel's Diner?"

"Yeah. Sounds good. Does one-thirty work for you?"

Will nodded and grinned crookedly at her. JJ slung her backpack over her shoulder and started down the hall. Once she reached the corner, she called over her shoulder, "It's a date then."

* * *

 **Chapter Unsubs:**

 **Frank Breitkopf - 2:13 & 2:23**

 **Next time on Quantico High: Mentor Program - David Rossi**


	3. Mentor - David Rossi

**A/N: Whoo baby! Last night's episode was a doozy! Can't wait for next week. I honestly thought I was going to die when I saw next week's preview.**

 **Anyway, three chapters, three days! This is like a record for me! I wouldn't expect this update schedule to continue but it's always a** **possibility. ;-)**

 **Shout outs: CriminalOutsider'sGirl14, Mossnose173, jayjrat, and Rachelle (Guest). Thanks so much for the encouragement. I was really worried about my characterization, but your reviews fixed that right up. And as always, thanks for all the follows and favorites!**

 **Hippiechic81: Thanks for telling me about the spelling error. I told myself to look it up, but never actually did. It's fixed now.**

 **Important information at the bottom!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Monday, 8/24/2015

* * *

Dave sighed as he entered Quantico High. The weekend was over and it was Monday again. Time for the second week of school to begin.

Aaron was standing in front of his locker, waiting for him. The other senior scanned the hallways impatiently.

"Hey, Aaron," Dave said as he approached. A devious smile appeared on his face as he decided to play dumb. "Who you looking for?"

The only reaction he got was an eye roll. "You. Principal Strauss wants to see you."

Dave groaned. He had not even done anything wrong yet. Sure, he had plans for Homecoming; it was going to be bigger and better than last year.

"Have you seen Haley?" Aaron asked, grabbing his attention once more.

"Nope," Dave replied. The other senior glanced around the hall once more. The bell rang and he sighed.

"See you at lunch," Aaron said before rushing off the his Civics class. No one was surprised when they heard that Aaron was taking it. It was just so... Aaron.

Dave, on the other hand, was supposed to be heading off to Physics, but apparently Strauss required his attention.

He sighed in defeat and headed towards the school office. Dave was surprise to see that the school had gotten Strauss a new secretary.

Dave sauntered up to the desk, where the new secretary sat typing on her computer. "Dave Rossi, here to see Mrs. Strauss." The girl nodded. He put on his most flirtatious smile, and continued. "And what would your name be?"

The girl "And what would your name be?"

The girl did not look up from her computer as she answered, "Elle Greenaway. Take a seat." She paused for a moment to point to the chairs on the other side of the room. A young, unfamiliar, blonde girl sat there, looking nervous. Dave concluded that she was probably a freshman.

Dave decided to try once more to get the pretty office lady to look at him. He considered himself a player, or at least that is what his last three girlfriends had said.

"Come on, sweetcheeks," he said smoothly.

Elle froze. Her face turned to him with a scowl that could rival Strauss. "Do _not_ call me that ever again." She pointed to the chairs again. "Sit down."

Dave spun on his heel and sat. A woman with a glare like that was not a woman he wanted to deal with.

Strauss stepped out of her office and beckoned Dave inside. She had him sit in one of her plush office chairs. That was one benefit of getting in trouble, your butt got out of class and into a comfy chair.

"Mr. Rossi, do you know why you're here?" Strauss asked sternly.

"No," Dave replied, mocking her tone.

Strauss let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't even know why you signed up for the mentor program but-"

Dave's eyes widened in panic. "Wait! What? I didn't sign up for anything!"

"Your name is right here, Mr. Rossi," Strauss said, holding out the sign-up sheet. Dave scanned the page. Sure enough, his name was there, right under some girl named Maeve Donovan. This had to be Penelope's doing. Strauss continued "As such, I've found you a freshman to mentor."

Strauss went to her door. She opened it and the blonde girl came in. "David Rossi, this is Ashley Seaver."

Ashley gave a tiny wave. "Hello, David."

The senior forced a smile. "Call me Dave."

"Now that you've been introduced," Strauss said through a tight lipped smile. "Why don't you show Ms. Seaver around the school?"

Dave nodded despondently. "C'mon, Ashley," he said, walking out of the office.

* * *

Dave did as Strauss had asked and showed the freshman around. He thought the whole thing was ridiculous. It was the second week of school, the kid should know her way around by now.

"Um, Dave," the girl said softly as they turned into the hallway outside the auditorium. He nodded to show he was listening. "If I'm bothering you, I can go to back to Strauss and ask that you be taken out of the program."

His head shot up. He knew his tour of the school had not been exactly enthusiastic, but he did not want the girl to feel unwanted. "No, no. That's not it. It's just…" Dave sighed.

Ashley looked confused. "Just what?"

"I didn't actually sign up for this. My friend, Penelope, put my name on the sign-up sheet without telling me. This probably another one of her ploys to get me to, as she puts it, "guide the youth through the terror that is ninth grade"."

The young blonde laughed and Dave smiled at her. Maybe this mentoring thing would not be that bad.

Ashley tugged at his sleeve. "Hey." She pointed to a poster hanging outside the auditorium. "What can you tell me about the Drama Club?"

Dave looked at the poster. "Well, this year they're putting on _The Pirate of Penzance_."

Ashley rolled her eyes, but there was a smile behind it. "Duh. I can read, you know."

"Tryouts are on Wednesday," he read aloud. He scanned the page for recognizable names and was surprised to see Haley's. He suddenly had an idea. If he told Aaron that Haley was in the play, he would sign up too. Aaron, trying to act-that was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Ashley noticed the smirk that had grown on his face. "What?"

Dave just shook his head. "Just an idea, young Seaver. A brilliant, devious idea."

* * *

After promising to meet up with her at lunch, Dave dropped Ashley off at her second hour class and he went to Trig. His idea for Aaron was still running through his head as he sat down, and Derek noticed.

"What's up with your face, man?"

"I'm pranking Aaron."

"What?!" The astonishment was clear on the junior's face.

"You heard me. Haley signed up for the play. I'm gonna tell Hotch and-"

"Mr. Rossi," interrupted Mr. Grace. "Please refrain from distracting the other students during class."

Dave huffed in his seat but closed his mouth. Grace sure held a grudge.

* * *

Third hour was Dave's free period. Usually, he spent it in the gym, but, as it turns out, that was Ashley's third hour class. It was not that he was avoiding the freshman... but he was definitely avoiding her.

He did not what to make of this whole mentor thing. What could he do to possibly help a freshman in their transition to high school? No one would ever describe David Rossi as responsible. Or a role model. Or even a good student. He was a slacker at best.

And yet someone saw him fit enough to be a freshman mentor.

He would have been flattered if it was true. This whole thing was karma for telling Boyd Schuller that he slept with his girlfriend last year. He didn't actually do it, but he wanted to push the jerk's buttons. The guy was so haughty, it wasn't funny.

Dave sighed and pulled out his Physics textbook. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Dave made good on his promise and met Ashley outside the cafeteria. She tried to hide it, but he could tell she was excited. He had absolutely no idea why; maybe she had not made any friends yet.

He had brought his lunch today-mother's orders. Ashley, on the other hand, had to go through the line, so he went with her. It would be too easy to lose the freshman in the crowded room and Penelope would use her mad hacker skills to ruin his life if he did.

He lead her to the round table where his friends sat. Not surprisingly, everyone was already there.

JJ spotted him first. "Hey, Dave." She waved. Then she noticed Ashley. "Who's your friend?"

"Ashley Seaver," he introduced. "She's a freshman."

"Wow, Dave. I didn't take you for _that_ type of perv," Emily said sarcastically.

Ashley's eyes widened in horror. JJ immediately caught the girl's train of thought. "Ashley, don't listen to Emily. She's just teasing. Dave won't touch you." She glared at the brunette.

Ashley nodded, the horror passing over. She sat down next to JJ and Aaron.

"So, what brings a young lady like you to our noble little table?" Penelope asked.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend you don't know Penelope. You signed me up for this mentor thing."

Derek snorted. "David Rossi, a high school mentor? Better watch out for Mr. Grace, Ashley. He's got it out for your mentor here."

Ashley looked confused. "Why?"

Aaron smiled. "Now that's a story."

Penelope looked delighted. "Oh! I love this one. C'mon Dave! Tell her!"

Dave let out a sigh of resignation, pretending like they were the childish ones, but his smile ruined the effect. "Well it was spring of sophomore year….

* * *

 _Dave stood on Grace's desk in his and Aaron's fourth hour Algebra 2 class. He had finished lunch extra quickly in order to get here before the teacher. This prank was going to be the talk of the school._

 _He pushed the sewing needle into the weird foamy ceiling block, then threaded the fishing line through the metal ceiling panel divider. He tied to one end of the fishing line was a white water balloon filled with blue paint, the other end was tied to Mr. Grace's adjustable chair. Dave knew Grace liked his chair as low as possible so he put it on the highest setting, that way when Grace adjusted it, it would pull the fishing line and balloon up, and the needle would pop the balloon._

 _It was genius._

 _The bell rang and Dave scurried out of the room and into the bathrooms. He did not want be any more suspicious than he needed to be. After waiting a minute, he headed to class._

 _Aaron was already there. He had his book open and was studying for the quiz today. Dave sat down in the desk next to him and without looking up, Aaron immediately pointed to the balloon._

" _That you?" he asked._

 _Dave only smirked. "You bet."_

 _Aaron only shook his head._

 _Mr. Grace entered the classroom seconds before the bell rang. He was wearing his white suit. He went to his desk and picked up the stack of papers that were the test. "You have the entire class period to complete this test," he announced. "I expect no talking. If you finish early, you may work on the homework."_

 _Once Grace finished passing out the tests, he went back to his desk, probably to grade something. Dave pretended to be studiously working on his test. In reality, he was watching Grace out of the corner of his eye. The teacher sat in his chair. Grace immediately noticed something was off and adjusted it. It did exactly what Dave had planned it to. The line pulled and the balloon hit the ceiling, but it did not pop._

 _Dave's eyes widened in panic. Why wasn't popping?!_

 _Grace sat down once more and that did it. The extra weight from the teacher was just enough to pop the balloon._

 _Blue paint came raining down on Grace and his white suit. It got in his hair and all over his face and shoulders. The entire class stared at their teacher in shock. All except Dave. He sat back in chair and admired his handiwork._

 _Grace looked down at his now paint covered hands, then up at the blue burst of paint on the ceiling. The balloon was still dripping paint. The teacher looked over his class and their shocked and horrified faces. All except two. Aaron Hotchner, who was the only one still working on his test, and David Rossi, sitting with a smug expression._

 _Grace stood. "Mr. Rossi," he said calmly. Dave was suddenly terrified. Maybe this hadn't been the greatest idea. "I think it's about time we visit Mrs. Strauss."_

* * *

"...We talked to Strauss, and I got suspended for two weeks. The end," Dave concluded. Everyone but Spencer laughed, even Aaron, though his was more of a small chuckle.

The young genius stared at him, horror lacing his expression. "You did that to a teacher?"

"Yeah. It was totally worth it."

Spencer just shook his head.

Dave noticed Aaron's focus drifting now that the story was over. He followed his fellow senior's line of sight and saw him staring at Haley. He grinned.

"Hey, Aaron," he said, bringing his friend's attention back to the group. "Guess who signed up for the play?"

"The play?" questioned Penelope. "I didn't sign you up for the play."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Not me. Haley," he said in a sing-song tone.

"Really?" Aaron asked, surprised.

"Yep. Ashley can back me up. She saw it too." Ashley nodded in confirmation.

Aaron suddenly stood. "Dave, I'll meet you in class," he said and rushed off.

"He didn't even ask what the play was," commented Spencer.

"That's the power of true love, baby muffin," replied Penelope.

* * *

Dave and Aaron shared all the same classes after lunch. First on the list was English 4 with Mrs. Blake. Dave hated all teachers by reflex, but Blake was tolerable. For starters she did not look down on her students when they got something wrong and help when they asked.

But the best thing about Blake was her projects.

She assigned two per year, one in the first semester and one in the second. Mrs. Blake called them "Creative Projects". She would come up with a list of possible projects for the students to do and then let the student pick one and a book they had read. Dave was skeptical when he first heard about them but after doing six, he could not wait to see the selection for this year.

At the moment the class was going through Crime and Punishment. Dave and Aaron had discussed it at length and they both agreed that the most interesting aspect was the criminal's psyche and how it changed throughout the story.

Aaron made into class a minute before the bell. He was huffing and puffing.

"Did you just run here from the auditorium?" Dave asked, incredulous.

Aaron quickly caught his breath. "I had to stop by my locker and get my books, but yes."

Dave chuckled. If one word could describe Aaron, it would be dedication.

* * *

After English came gym. Not all students had to take it, but the class was required to play sports. Dave played soccer and Derek had told them of his plans to play football or basketball over the winter. Aaron just liked to stay in shape.

Coach Harrison Scott blew his whistle. "Okay! It's time to whip your sorry behinds into shape. Five laps!" he called.

Almost immediately the crowd of students began jogging around the perimeter of the gym. Coach Scott shouting "encouragement" along the way.

Dave thought back to last Tuesday. Derek had been weirded out by the coach. Aaron and Dave had to explain that he was an ex-Marine and he was toning down his language for the girls. Sports practices were a whole different boat.

"C'mon, David!" Coach shouted at him. "I've seen you run faster than that!"

Dave noticed that Derek had begun to pull ahead of him. That just would not do. Nobody beats a senior. Dave poured on the speed.

* * *

As it turned out all Dave ended up doing was exhausting himself. Derek was a natural sportsman. No matter how fast he ran, Derek always pulled ahead. But he took it good naturedly.

When the class was over, Coach called the junior over. Dave and Aaron headed into the locker room and changed. By the time they were done, Derek was back and had started to change.

"What was that about?" asked Aaron.

"He wants me to play basketball," Derek said with a sigh.

Dave looked at him curiously. "You don't want to?"

Derek seemed to realize that they had not interpreted him correctly. "Oh, no. I want to play. It's just...This is a new school and all. I don't know anyone on the team and-"

"Don't worry about that," Aaron interrupted. "If you want to play, you should."

Derek just nodded. "I'll think about it."

"Basketball doesn't start until November anyway," Dave said, slinging his arm around the junior's shoulders. "You got loads of time."

* * *

Behavior went smoothly. Mr. Gideon had given them more details on their project and then had them look at several internet articles and describe the type of person who wrote them. Safe to say, that did not go well.

Gideon was an interesting teacher. His was the only class Dave actually felt bad joking around in. The man just had this disappointed look that ripped into his soul. Maybe that was why there were so few people in the class. It was highly unlikely, but possible.

According to school rumors, the reason the class was so empty was because Jason Gideon was a murderer. Apparently, ten years ago, Gideon had attacked a man called Adrian Bale in the school after hours. Bale had been found dead in the library with his head bashed in. The rumors never said how the man's death was connected to Gideon and Dave had never cared enough to look it up. Spencer probably knew though.

Dave had not realized that he had left his thoughts drift until Gideon started talking again.

"Please place your analysis on my desk," Gideon stated. Dave looked down at his own nearly blank paper and cringed. He hurriedly scribbled some generalizations down. "Don't worry if this exercise was difficult, that was the point," continued Gideon. "As we progress, this exercise will become easier. My hope is that you all be able to do this reflexively by the end of the year."

The bell rang and the school day was over.

* * *

 **Featured Unsubs/Characters:**

 **Boyd Schuller - 5:3**

 **Harrison Scott - 8:7**

 **Adrian Bale - 1:3**

* * *

 **Important information referenced above:**

 **I've been debating adding a larger mystery element to this story. (The UnSub would be an actual CM UnSub. Not an OC.) At this point, the mystery in my story is mainly built on individual character plots. If the mystery element is added, it will take over as the main focus of the story and the character plots will slow down. So here's the question I have for you: should I add in the mystery or focus on the character plots?**

 **It's up to you!**

* * *

 **Next Time: Pretty Boy - Spencer Reid**


	4. Pretty Boy - Spencer Reid

**A/N: I told you not to count on that update streak to continue...**

 **Speaking of last week, did I not do a good job with Rossi or something?**

 **In other news, a big mystery is in the character's future...**

 **Mossnose173: Thanks for the advice. I think that I'll have to change my style up a bit once I get to the mystery though.**

 **Anyway, welcome to the Spencer Reid UnSub/Character Dump! This'll be fun.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Tuesday, 8/25/2015

* * *

Spencer hopped of the bus and onto the sidewalk of Quantico High. It was Tuesday. He hated taking the bus on Tuesdays. Of course, he had to take the bus everyday since his mother was not allowed to drive and the DMV still refused to give him a licence, but Tuesdays were the worst. On Tuesday, Wade Hatchett drove his bus. The man was seriously creepy. Spencer got chills whenever the guy turned his piercing gaze on him.

Derek was waiting for him. It still surprised the young genius that he always waited for him outside the school. It was not that bad of a morning, last he checked it was only 71℉. Just wait until January, it got down into the 30's.

Derek flashed the fourteen year old his signature player smile. "What's shakin', little man?"

Spencer frowned. "I'm aware of my height, thank you. I don't need it rubbed in," he replied sourly.

The older boy just raised an eyebrow. "Chill, man. You just need a nickname."

"Why? Spencer works just fine."

"Nah. That's too long."

"Too long?! It's two syllables."

"Yeah. Too long."

" _Your_ name is two syllables."

Derek ruffled Spencer's hair. "Sure." He winked. "But I'm not the one who needs a nickname."

The two juniors walked through the halls. The crowdedness had gone down since school had started, but not much. There was a lot of jostling and pushing and Spencer lost Derek for a second. Once he spotted the older boy, he sped up his pace. Ever since he had made friends with the other junior, most of the bullies had left him alone. Or well, left him alone whenever Derek was around. Spencer hated having to rely on the other boy for protection, but he hated the bullies more.

That being said, not all the students in school had gotten the memo about Derek's protective streak.

As Spencer scurried through the crowd, he kept his eyes on Derek. Billy would probably jump him if he lost the other junior again. Unfortunately, he did not notice a group of senior's hushed whispers as he navigated the crowded hallway. One of the boys stuck his foot out just as the little genius was passing.

Spencer tripped.

The boy went down with a large crash. His stuff fell out of his backpack and papers flew across the floor. His glasses came off and skidded to a stop in front of the student who tripped him.

The senior smirked. "Watch where you're going, toothpick."

Derek had heard the crash and quickly came to the scene. "Hey! Leave him alone."

The older boy looked Derek up and down. He frowned as if smelling spoiled milk. "Who even are you?"

"Derek Morgan. This kid's with me, so you better leave him alone."

The senior seemed to mull over the name. Spencer started to search the ground for his glasses. "Morgan? I think-" He snapped his fingers. The smirk reappeared on the senior's face. He liked a good challenge. "You're the new member of Hotchner's little posse, aren't you?"

Spencer discreetly tried to get Derek's attention. He had figured out who they were dealing with and if Derek answered truthfully then this was going to get painful. However, Derek, being the alpha male he was, ignored Spencer.

Derek nodded and Spencer cringed. The senior's smirk instantly widened and Derek knew that was the wrong answer.

"Name's George Foyet," he held out a hand for Derek to shake. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Derek looked suspiciously at the hand. His instincts told him to grab Spencer and make a run for it, etiquette told him to shake the hand. Etiquette won over and he grabbed Foyet's hand.

Bad idea.

Foyet spun the junior around and smashed him into the lockers. Derek was too startled to do anything before it was too late. Then he was flung across the hall and into the opposite row of lockers. Foyet approached and landed a nasty kick to the junior's stomach just as the bell rang.

Everyone in the hall scattered. No one helped the two boys. Derek lay there clutching his stomach, while Foyet approached Spencer. The little genius could not see clearly without his glasses but he could tell the large blurry shape in front of him was not friendly.

"Derek?" Spencer called out fearfully. He tried to push himself away from Foyet, but ended up with his back pressed up against the lockers.

Foyet picked the fourteen year old up by the collar of his sweater vest. "You gonna tell Strauss, kid?"

Spencer shook his head furiously. Foyet raised his hand and he cringed. The older boy laughed at the genius's fear. Foyet dropped the kid and started to walk away. He stopped, however, when he heard a crunch under his shoe. He picked up his foot to see the kid's glasses. He picked up the mangled eye wear and sauntered over the boy who had gone back to searching for the glass he held.

"Here, toothpick." He smirked. "You're gonna need these." Foyet dropped the glasses in front of Spencer and head off to Civics.

As soon as Foyet was out of the hallway, Spencer grabbed his glasses. He let out a cry of dismay when he found them beyond repair.

"Spencer?" moaned Derek. The genius's focus turned to his friend.

"Oh, god. Derek! Are you okay?" he panicked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." The older junior pushed himself into a sitting position. "What about you?"

"Uh, well, he didn't hit me," Spencer said slowly.

"I hear a 'but' in there," Derek joked.

Spencer sighed in shame. "He broke my glasses and I can't see anything."

Derek growled. "What's with that guy?!"

"I don't really know. Something happened between him and Hotch during their freshman year."

"You don't know? What kind of genius are you?" Derek chuckled.

"I asked around!" Spencer exclaimed defensively. "But no one would tell me anything! Not even Dave."

Spencer was getting upset by the whole thing and it was starting to leak into his voice.

"Hey, calm down," Derek said softly. He patted the boy genius's head. "It's okay. You have spare glasses in your locker, right?"

Spencer nodded.

"Let's get them and get you to class, okay?"

"But you-" Spencer exclaimed.

"We can worry about me after we get your glasses."

* * *

By thee time Spencer got to the library, he was emotionally exhausted. Derek had been groaning in pain with every step he took. Spencer had personal experience with Foyet's kicks and he could imagine with startlingly clarity the pain his friend was in. At least Emily had not been there too. She probably would have finally managed to get herself kicked out of school. If there was one person more protective than Derek, it would be Emily.

He sat down at a random library table and buried his head in his arms. He did not even realise anyone else was there until someone cleared their throat. Spencer looked up to see Tobias Hankel sitting in the chair across from him. The sophomore was sober for once. Spencer could tell because the other boy actually had an expression on his face - an expression of concern.

The young genius sighed. "Hey, Tobias."

"Hi," The boy looked nervous for a moment, then continued. "Is-Is something wrong?"

Spencer smiled tiredly. "Not really. Just the usual bullies and stuff."

Tobias's frown only deepened. Spencer did not understand why the sophomore even cared. They were not friends. He highly doubted Tobias even knew his name; the only reason Spencer knew the other boy was because he remembered everything.

Tobias's expression suddenly brightened. He reached below the table and into his backpack. The sophomore glanced around furtively before discreetly placing an unopened syringe and a clear, glass vial on the table.

Spencer's eyes widened. "You brought drugs to school?" he asked, incredulous. He knew kids did that but he had never actually seen the drugs himself. He attracted enough trouble without going looking for druggies.

Tobias only nodded. He gave Spencer a happy little smile. He whispered, "You want some? It makes it better."

The junior continued to stare at the drug. He had no idea what "it" even was.

He cleared his throat nervously. "Wha-What kind of drug is it?"

"Dilaudid," he answered simply.

"Heroin?" Spencer hated how his voice cracked as he spoke.

Tobias nodded again. "I mixed a psychedelic into it, too," he said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

That was probably what terrified Spencer the most about drugs. How, after just a few hits, normal it seemed to continue. How normal they could make someone feel. Yet, at them same time, there were people in the world, like his mom, who insisted that the drugs made them abnormal. But then again, his mother also insisted that all politicians were either aliens or snake people fighting for control of Earth.

Those were the reasons Spencer sadly shook his head at the proffered drugs. Sad, because he could not help Tobias or his mother with either of their problems. He had to be responsible for her; he could not let a drug-induced haze cloud his judgement.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Tobias simply shrugged, obviously not caring either way. He snatched the syringe and vial off the table. He started to pop the case off the needle, but Spencer stopped him with a question.

"Tobias? What's your next class?"

The sophomore froze and looked up at him in surprise. Apparently, no one had ever asked about his personal life before.

"Uh," Tobias seemed to have to rack his brain for the answer. Most of the time, he probably was not sober until the class was half over anyway. "English 2, I think."

"Cool." Spencer smiled warmly. His distraction was working. "My friend Penelope's in that class. Do you know here?"

The two boys talked until the end of the free period and Tobias had to go. Spencer, however, had another free period to spend in the library.

As he watched the sophomore exit, he decided that he found the perfect person for Mr. Gideon's empathy project: Tobias Hankel.

* * *

Spencer used the first half of his second free period to analyze hs entire conversation with Tobias. The second half was spent completing the assignment for his online Advanced Physics class. He was working on his first PhD.

However, as soon as the bell rang, Spencer was out the door. Next was Chemistry, which he had with Emily and Derek. They were the only reason he enjoyed the class. He read the textbook over the summer, which, in retrospect, was not the greatest idea since he was now bored of the class.

He quickly met up with the other two juniors in the Chemistry lab.

"Guess who I met today!" Spencer exclaimed, interrupting whatever argument the two had gotten into in the three minutes since their Trig class had ended.

"The president?" guessed Emily sarcastically.

Derek shook his head at her. "Don't be ridiculous, Emily. It was the director of the CIA, wasn't it?"

"Now who's being ridiculous," teased the brunette. "He'd get picked up by the FBI before the CIA ever saw his application."

"Actually-" Spencer began to correct them.

Sensing a lecture coming on, Emily interrupted, "Who'd you meet?"

Spencer blinked twice, startled at the sudden topic change. "Oh! Right," he exclaimed after getting his conversational bearings. "Anyway, there was this sophomore, Tobias Hankel, he tried to give me Dilaudid but-"

Derek exploded, "He did WHAT!?"

The genius recoiled at the sudden outburst and the room fell silent. All heads turned to their table.

Emily glared at the nosy class. "Don't any of you have anything better to do?" They slowly went back to their own conversations, leaving the three friends to their discussion.

"What did he give you?" Derek repeated, still angry but not quite as loud.

"He didn't _give_ me anything. He offered me Dilaudid. I didn't take it."

The other male junior's body visibly relaxed. Emily smirked. "Never knew you cared so much, Derek."

He took her teasing in stride. "Gotta keep our baby genius safe."

"Can't use that one," Spencer said absent-mindedly. "It's one of Penelope's."

Derek groaned. "Can't get anything past you, kid. Can I?"

"What are you two talking about?" Emily asked, obviously lost.

The boys answered in unison, "Nicknames."

* * *

Spencer held mixed feelings towards lunch. Of course, he got to spend time with his other friends, the ones he did not have classes with, but he hated the noisy throngs that filled the place. The room was always so difficult to navigate without bumping someone and with his propensity for finding trouble wherever he went….

Let's just say the cafeteria did not hold the most pleasant memories for Spencer Reid.

This year was better. Now he had Derek to clear his path. People nearly dove to get out of his way. Part of the reason Spencer found this so funny was because if any of them actually got to know the "scary" junior, they would probably find him to be nicest person they ever met.

That was the best things about his group of friends-they purposely defied expectations. By all rights, JJ should be hanging out with the snooty fashionistas, Derek with the jocks, and Penelope would be so goth it wouldn't be funny. One look at Dave and anyone would see a classic slacker, but when he wanted something bad enough, he was unstoppable. An outsider would describe Hotch as cold and unfeeling, an emotionless brick, however, Spencer would say Hotch was the kindest and most selfless man he ever met.

Emily was the only one of them who conformed to the classic rebellious teen stereotype. She bathed in sarcasm and eye rolls were second nature. She dressed mainly in reds and blacks. She even used to smoke, but after Spencer had merciless begged her to stop, she had. He was so proud of her for quitting.

"Heya, Spence." JJ's voice shook the young genius out of his thoughts. "Whya so quiet?" she asked, concerned.

"Just thinking," he replied simply.

"About what?"

"Smoking." JJ visibly flinched. Spencer panicked for a second. What had he done wrong? He trusted JJ, so he told her the truth.

"Why?" she asked slowly.

"'Cause I'm happy that we finally got Emily to quit." He smiled at her, but JJ refused to meet his eyes. "JJ-"

He was cut off by the bell. JJ quickly gathered her things and dashed out of the room without leaving time for Spencer to finish his question.

* * *

Spencer day had three free periods: first, second and fourth hour. Of all of them, fourth was the best.

Why?

Two words: Maeve Donovan.

She was smart, funny, and the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. She was just a few months older than him. Her smile was gorgeous and she was one of two people in the school who could keep up with his brain.

He saw her in the library and his faced flushed involuntarily. Derek noticed instantly.

"What you looking at, lover boy?"

Penelope laughed and Spencer scowled, but his blush remained. "That's not-"

"It totally is!" Penelope squealed.

"No."

"Yes!

"No!"

The two's argument had started to draw attention and soon enough the librarian approached. She glared and hushed them. Then they sat down around one of the tables.

"C'mon, kid," Derek encouraged. "Just go over and talk to her."

"Yeah! You don't have to _do_ anything. Just talk," Penelope whispered.

The two students went on like this until Spencer finally stood and sighed. "The only reason I'm doing this is to get away from you two."

They glanced at each other knowingly. "Sure. You keep telling yourself that," Derek said slyly.

Spencer glared and left. He picked up his stuff and moved to Maeve's table. She smiled at him when he sat.

"Hi, Spencer," she said. "I'm glad you came over. I want to introduce you to the freshman I'm mentoring. Spencer Reid, this is Diane Turner."

The young genius looked to see another girl sitting at the table. She was thin and her hair was dark and straight. Her skin was pale and she was pretty, but not as pretty as Maeve. She smiled, but Spencer could tell it was forced. She honestly looked rather annoyed.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you," he said to her. She did not stick her hand out to shake and that was fine by him. When she did not say anything either, he turned back to Maeve. "Is that why you weren't here Monday? You were showing Diane around?"

Maeve nodded. She was about to say something when the freshman interrupted.

"Um, Maeve? Could you help me with this physics problem?" she asked.

Maeve turned to the younger girl and smiled. "Of course. Where do you think it's going wrong?"

Spencer's eyes widened in surprise. He knew Maeve was smart, but this new girl was just as clever. Most freshman didn't take Physics after all.

* * *

After fourth hour free period, Spencer had Selected English. It was the highest English course the school offered. Very few students were allowed to take it; this year only five. Besides himself, there was Harvey Morell, Caleb Rossmore, Theodore Bryar, Maeve, and Kat Adams.

Kat was weird. For starters she would always try to show off, as if she had something to prove. She needed to be the best, and needed to make sure everyone knew it. She tried to answer questions first, regardless of being right, and whenever her answers were challenged, she would get extremely defensive, almost scarily so.

Spencer had no idea why Mrs. Blake put up with it.

But other than Kat, the class was good. At the moment, they were about to start a mystery unit on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Mrs. Blake assigned the first three chapters of the book and Spencer had not read more than that. He used to finish the books as soon as they were assigned but after several teachers and students had complained that he spoiled the stories, he decided that it was not a good idea.

* * *

The last class of the day, Behavior, was one of Spencer's favorite classes. Well, all of Spencer's classes were favorites, but this one held a special place. Mr. Gideon was a good man and treated him like a son, something Spencer had been looking awhile for now.

Besides that, the class itself was incredibly interesting and Spencer knew that this was never something he could learn from a textbook or article. Not that he hadn't tried.

"Alright," announced Gideon, starting the class. "We're going to work on an interactive profile study today."

Every head in the classroom shot to to stare at the teacher.

"What's an 'interactive profile'?" questioned JJ. They had done profile studies before, reading articles and profiling the writers, but this seemed different.

"Good question. Interactive profile simply means that instead of simply reading people's thoughts from paper, you're actually going to interact with that person."

"Like an interview?" asked Dave.

"Precisely. Today, you're going to work on questions you would ask. Tomorrow, you're actually going to use these questions to interview one of the staff at the school. Your goal is to profile said person's Saturday afternoon. I'm going to divide you up in groups. You have to work together here or this won't work out. Reid and Morgan. Hotchner and Rossi. Jareau, Prentiss and Garcia."

The students quickly divided themselves into their assigned groups. The girls quickly began murmuring, while Dave and Hotch simply started writing.

"You know," whispered Derek. He gestured to Dave and Hotch. "Sometimes I think those two can read each other's minds."

Spencer turned on his professor voice. "Actually, mind reading, also called telepathy, is a completely unfounded idea. It is a pseudoscience, seeing as no experiments have ever yielded consistent results. Twins-"

"Thanks for that," Derek interrupted. "What should we ask?"

Spencer blinked. It always took him a moment to adjust out of lecture mode. "I think it would be better to come up with a list of things to ask about, prioritize that, and then come up with questions. Do we know if there's a time restraint?"

Spencer raised his hand to ask but Penelope beat him to it. Mr. Gideon said that each group would have fifteen minutes on Wednesday to ask their questions.

"So we need to focus on personal questions, like family and work," Derek concluded.

"We should probably ask about their hobbies too," Spencer added.

The juniors quickly came up with their questions and worked out a game plan. If the person they interviewed was a woman, Spencer would go in. If a male, then Derek. Whoever was not doing the interview would watch body language and take notes.

* * *

By the time they finished, class was over. The bell rang and the seven friends dispersed to their lockers. Derek, Emily, and Spencer all headed down to the junior hall together.

Spencer had hoped that Derek had forgotten about the whole nickname thing, but no. He was still trying. Emily was not helping. Well, not helping Spencer.

"How 'bout 'bookworm'?" Derek suggested.

"No. Too long."

"Brain boy?"

"Too simple."

"Smart ass."

"Swearing." He glared at her. She glared back and Derek had to concede.

"Spenc-opedia?" She just looked at him like he was crazy. He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Fine." The older junior stared at him for a moment. His eyes were narrowed in concentration and thought. The longer he looked the more uncomfortable Spencer got.

Suddenly, Derek straightened and put his index finger up in the classic "idea" pose. "I got it. 'Pretty boy'," he said with a grin.

Emily tried her hardest not to smile. "I could get behind that one," she said slowly.

Spencer just stared at them, mouth agape. "Wha- No. Y-You can't-"

"Yep. It's perfect," Derek said, seeing the kid's reaction. Emily had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep her laughter in. "Ain't it, Pretty boy?"

* * *

 **Featured Unsubs:**

 **Wade Hatchett - 5:7**

 **George Foyet - 4:18 & 5:9**

 **Tobias Hankel - 2:14 & 2:15**

 **Diane Turner - 8:12**

 **Harvey Morell - 7:11**

 **Caleb Rossmore - 7:11**

 **Theodore Bryar - 1:9**

 **Kat Adams - 11:11**

* * *

 **Next time: The Auditions - Aaron Hotchner**


	5. The Auditions - Aaron Hotchner

**A/N: And a nice warm welcome to Hotch, everybody! This has been the hardest chapter yet. I don't know his character is really difficult for me to write. Probably because he's the polar opposite of my own personality.**

 **I do not own Pirates of Penzance. I do, however, suggest that anyone reading this should totally check it out. It is hilarious. Anyway, if anyone has no idea what the Pirates of Penzance is or doesn't want the whole thing spoiled, the director of the play sorta ruins that, so warning!**

 **Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed last chapter. Now! To the reviews!**

 **CriminalOutsider'sGirl14: JJ doesn't have a problem with smoking itself. She's just upset that Emily promised Spencer she'd quit, yet she's still doing it.**

 **Mossnose173: I'm so happy you liked it so much. Spencer is one of my favorite characters. The UnSubs were the main reason it took so long to write that chapter. Tobias and Kat were being difficult.**

 **jayjrat: I can't wait to get started on the mystery part.**

 **Etolrah: I'm glad my story could break you out of your reviewing habit. ;-D**

 **On to the story! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Wednesday, 8/26/2015

* * *

Anyone who knew Aaron Hotchner would not describe him as nervous. Stressed, maybe. Definitely an overachiever. Workaholic. But not nervous. However, on this Wednesday morning, nervous was the best word for what Aaron was feeling.

The auditions were today.

Hotch pulled into school, put his truck in park, and turned the engine off. He glanced over at Sean, sitting in the passenger seat, and sighed. The sophomore was totally zoned out. He had his earbuds in and looked to be asleep.

The senior shook his brother out of his daze. Sean blinked blearily. "What?" he slurred.

"We're here," Hotch sighed.

The sophomore immediately awakened. He grabbed his stuff from the floor, hopped out of the truck, and jogged over to one of his many groups of friends.

Aaron shook his head. It astonished him how quickly his brother's attitude could change just by the mention of his friends.

The senior checked the clock: 7:46. School started at eight o'clock. He snatched his backpack from the backseat and slowly got out of his truck.

He walked inside the school and was greeted by a poster for the play, reminding him of his earlier nervousness. Aaron would have to find Sean later and remind him of the auditions.

He arrived at his locker and checked his watch again. The five-minute bell rang seconds later. He had wanted to talk to Dave before class, but it looked like the other senior would be late.

Again.

Aaron sighed. He had to get to Civics.

* * *

Aaron hated Civics. He had been excited back when he first signed up. He had known Strauss was the teacher, so that was not the problem. What he had not known, what the problem was, was that George Foyet had also signed up for the class.

Aaron took his seat and pulled out his books. Foyet was already in the room and approached his desk.

"Hey, Hotchner," the other senior sneered. When Aaron did not reply, he continued. "You'll never guess who I ran into the other day." Still no response. "Two little friends of yours. The name Derek Morgan ring any bells?"

Aaron's head snapped up. If Derek was there, then Spencer had probably been there too. "What?"

Foyet's menacing grin only grew. "Him and your pet genius." Foyet looked him in the eyes and saw the surprise that Aaron tried so hard to hide. "Oh? He didn't tell you?" he sneered. "We had a little 'encounter' yesterday."

Hotch did not even blink. "So what?"

Foyet growled at the lack of reaction. "So, I beat your friends. He ended up on the ground and me standing."

"You beat up to juniors. Your point?"

"My point, _Aaron_ , is that, unless you want your _buddies_ getting hurt, keep them out of my way." The two held eye contact until the bell rang and Strauss demanded that he take his seat.

Once the other senior was gone, Hotch finally let his poker face drop. Why would Derek and Spencer not tell him about meeting Foyet? Spencer knew the two had a history, even if he did not know what that history was. No one but Dave knew what went down in freshman year and Aaron intended to keep it that way.

* * *

After Civics came Anatomy and then Calculus. Those classes went by quickly. Something Aaron was thankful for. All he could think of was Foyet and the drama auditions.

He found Sean in between classes and asked if he could find himself a ride home. His brother assured him that he could and ran off.

Hotch was glad lunch was next. He needed to talk to Dave. He hated to pull his friend away from the others but with Foyet threatening their group, the two seniors needed to talk.

Aaron approached the lunch table and tapped Dave on the shoulder. "Hey, can we talk?"

Dave raised an eyebrow but nodded. He stood and followed Aaron out of the cafeteria. The rest of the group staring.

"What's going on, Aaron?" Dave asked as soon as the two were alone.

"Foyet beat up Derek and Spencer yesterday."

"What?! I thought we told Spencer to stay away from him. We told all of them!"

"I know. But we never told Derek."

Dave looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Foyet told me to keep 'my buddies' away from him if I didn't want them getting hurt."

"He threatened them!?" Hotch nodded.

"What are we gonna do?" Dave pressed "I know you don't want to tell them but-"

Aaron cut him off, "No, Dave. We've talked about this."

The other senior sighed. "Fine. We can play it by your rules for now but if he seriously hurts anyone, I'm telling. I don't care what the consequences are." Dave turned on his heel and marched back into the lunchroom.

Hotch did not end up going back into the cafeteria. Instead, he went to the library and got onto one of the school computers. He plugged his school flash drive into the computer. If he was skipping lunch, he might as well get something done.

* * *

When the bell rang Aaron gathered up his stuff and headed to his locker. Dave was not waiting for him. He was probably upset. It was not the first time they had that conversation. The other senior always suggested that they tell and Aaron always shot him down. Dave was usually angry afterwards.

Hotch sighed and slammed his locker shut in an unusual display of aggression. Dave was not the only one upset this time. Foyet was an annoyance, but one that Aaron knew how to deal with. He had never gone after his friends before and, frankly, it was worrying.

But he could not dwell on it now, he had English 4 to get to.

Aaron had calmed down by the time he got to class. He even managed to brush off the nasty glare Foyet gave him as he entered.

He took his seat just as the bell rang. Mrs. Blake started class moments later.

* * *

Next came Gym. Dave was still upset with him. The two seniors barely spoke to each other and Derek noticed. When he tried to ask about it, Dave brushed it off and went over to his soccer friends. Aaron sighed.

"We had a… disagreement," he explained.

"You mean at lunch?"

"Yeah."

Derek looked concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" Aaron said forcefully.

Derek took a step back and held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, man."

Aaron shook his head. "No. Don't be. This is between me and Dave. We can handle it."

* * *

Gym went by mercifully quickly and Behavior arrived. Hotch had nearly forgotten about the interviews today. He was reminded of it when he walked into the classroom and saw the typical English sub, Tara Lewis, chatting amiably with Mr. Gideon.

The bell rang and the class took their seats. Ms. Lewis left and Gideon began.

"Here's how today's going to work. I'm going to pick a number between one and ten, then each group is going to guess a number. The closest group goes first, next closest, second, furthest guess goes last. Understand?"

The seven students murmured their agreement.

"Good. I'll give you a minute to pick your numbers."

Aaron tuned to Dave who was still giving him the cold shoulder. He sighed.

"How are we going to play this?" Hotch asked.

"Depends. Do we want to go first?"

Aaron thought it through. There were advantages to going first. Ms. Lewis would be fresh and eager. However, her answers would not be as sure as they would be if they went last.

"I think we should try for the middle."

Dave nodded. "Let's go with five. Gideon seems like a guy who would go for one of the ends."

Aaron did not really see how his friend had come to that conclusion, but he was not going to question it right now.

"Alright," said Gideon, pulling everyone's attention to the front. "We'll go in order of seniority. Rossi?"

"Five."

Aaron heard a hiss of annoyance from the girls' group. Apparently they had stolen their guess.

"Morgan?"

"One."

"Prentiss?"

"Six."

Gideon nodded. "The number was five. Here's the order. Rossi, Hotchner, you're going first. Then the girls. Morgan and Reid are last. Ms. Lewis is waiting in the library."

The seniors stood and made their way to the library.

"You still want to take point?" Aaron asked Dave.

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

Dave's attitude was really starting to annoy him. Aaron opened his mouth to confront him, but he held up a hand.

"Not now Aaron. We need to focus." Dave pushed open the library door. Lewis was waiting in one of the conference rooms. The seniors came in and sat across from her.

"Hello, Ms. Lewis," Dave greeted and shook her hand. "I'm David Rossi and this is my friend, Aaron Hotchner. How are you today?"

"I'm doing well, thank you." She smiled. "How are you, Mr. Rossi?"

"I'm fine and, please, call me Dave."

"Alright then, Dave, I hear you have some questions for me?"

Dave nodded and immediately launched into their list of topics and questions. If Aaron did not know better, he would have never guessed that there was any tension between them. They finished just as the girls showed up. As they left the conference room, Emily told them that Gideon dismissed them from class.

Both seniors were surprised, but they did not question it. They turned to a nearby table and sat. There was a tense silence for a moment, then Aaron spoke.

"Is now a good time to talk?"

Dave shot him a pointed glare from across the table. "Not really."

"Fine. Let's discuss the interview." Aaron looked over his notes. "She did not give a lot away body language wise."

Dave nodded. "Most of our details are going to have to come from her answers."

Aaron checked his watch and nodded absent-mindedly. "Right."

The older senior frowned, but continued, "When I asked about her family, she mentioned her fiance and that her parents lived in town. She also mentioned that…."

Aaron was not paying attention anymore. He had spotted another Drama poster hanging on the side of a bookshelf. His thoughts were focused back on the auditions and Haley. She was the kindest person he knew. Not to mention the prettiest. She loved everybody and even though she was incredibly popular, she did not let that stop her from being friendly towards everyone.

"Aaron? Aaron?" Dave waved a hand in front of his friend's face. "Earth to Hotchner?"

He snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? What?"

Dave frowned angrily. "Have you been listening to a word I've said?" Hotch just gave him a blank look. "You know what, Aaron, I'm done here." Dave quickly packed up his notes. "You don't want to do this, fine. I'm going."

"No. Wait. I'm sorry," Aaron apologized.

Dave just ignored him and walked out of the library. The senior did not follow. He buried his head in his arms. Nothing had gone right today. And he still had those auditions. He lifted his head to look at his watch, 3:02. Auditions did not start until school was out at 3:30. Aaron groaned. He could not wait for this day to be over.

* * *

Aaron walked into the auditorium and saw a small gathering of drama students. He was surprised at how many people were there. He never realized how many people it took to put on one of these things. He was knocked out of his thoughts with a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," said a female voice.

Hotch turned to see Haley standing there. "Oh! Hi Haley." He flushed light pink. "Sorry." He moved out of the way.

Haley smiled. "I never took you for a thespian, Aaron."

The senior blanched. "A what?"

She giggled. "A thespian. It's a fancy word for actor."

"Right." Hotch cleared his throat, trying to be impressive. It did not seem to work because Haley only laughed more.

"So are you here to audition?" she asked.

"Yeah. I decided since it's senior year, I have nothing to lose." He shrugged.

Haley looked at him incredulously. "Do you even know what we're putting on?"

"The Pirates of Penzance, right?"

She was about to respond when, the director called everyone's attention.

"Hello drama students. I'm glad to see many familiar faces and even more new ones. My name's Adam Rain and I'll be your director this year. I know many of you are not here for the stage itself, so when I'm done speaking I ask that you go meet with our stage director, Mr. Cochran, in the left wing. As for the play itself, The Pirates of Penzance, also called The Slave of Duty, is a musical, so I have brought in Ms. Kane, the choir director, to help with that."

Aaron gasped. Dave did not tell him this was a musical. He could not back out now though. Not only had Haley seen him, but he had told her that this was not a big deal.

Mr. Rain continued. "This is a star-crossed lovers type story with several confounding plot twists. Here's the simple version. Our main character is Frederic. He's an apprentice to the Pirate King. Because of this he has never seen any other woman besides his nanny, Ruth. He ask Ruth to marry him, but quickly dumps her after meeting Mabel, on of the daughters of Major-General Stanley. The other pirates try to kidnap Mabel's sisters. Stanley finds out and stops them. He lies and tells them he is an orphan and they return his daughters. He runs off with his daughters and Frederic. Frederic plans to lead an army of policemen against the pirates, but before he can, the Pirate King and Ruth show up and tell him that because he was born on February 29th he is not technically 21 and is still a pirate apprentice. Frederic reluctantly returns to the pirates and reveals that Stanley is not an orphan. This enrages the Pirate King and he swears revenge on Stanley. A fight ensues between the pirates and police which the pirates win. However, Ruth reveals that the pirates are actually noblemen and the police take everyone prisoner. In the end the pirates are forgiven and Frederic and Mabel marry."

There was silence for a moment as the students attempted to process what they had just been told.

Rain clapped his hands. "Alright then, the crew can go see Mr. Cochran and we'll get these auditions out of the way."

The stage hands dispersed and they were left with about twenty students.

The director smiled as he looked over the crowd. "Good. We have enough that everyone should get a part." He looked down at his sign up sheet and called out three names Aaron did not recognize. Two freshman and a sophomore walked up and Rain handed them each a paper and directed them to the stage. "Read the parts I gave you."

They did not do to bad in Aaron's opinion. Another group went up and then Rain called, "Aaron Hotchner, Haley Brooks, and George Foyet."

Hotch's eyes widened in horror. Foyet could not be here! Absolutely not. The only reason Aaron did not run out at that second was Haley.

She stood and he followed her to the stage. Foyet came up from the right side of the theater. Rain gave them the sample scripts and pointed out their parts. Aaron was playing the Pirate King, Haley was given Ruth, and Foyet was assigned Frederic.

They went through quickly and Haley smiled at him when they were done. He hoped that meant he did well.

Another group went and then it was time for singing. The girls sang first and then the boys. Aaron was mesmerized by Haley's voice. It was beautiful. She was sure to get the part of Mabel. Foyet sang as well and, regardless of Aaron's dislike of the other senior, he had to admit that Foyet could really sing.

Finally it was Hotch's turn to sing. He was thankful that he was last, otherwise he would have been at a complete loss of what to do. The play had few songs that were complete solos, so Rain would play a specific song without the words of whichever part was being sung. The director handed him the lyrics as Aaron approached the stage. He climbed the stairs and stood at the front of the stage. He nodded to Rain and the music started up.

The song only took a few minutes to sing, but when he was done a silence filled the room. He cleared his throat nervously. The director blinked and shook his head as if coming out of a daydream.

"Uh, yes. Thank you, Mr. Hotchner. You may take your seat," he said after gathering his wits. Aaron nodded and took his seat next to Haley. She stared at him like he was some type of alien. Rain stood and spoke, "Thank you, students. The cast list will be posted outside the theater next Wednesday, please check it. Our next practice will be on that day as well. You will receive your scripts then as well. Good afternoon."

Students immediately began to gather their stuff and head out. Haley was still looking at him strangely.

"That bad?" Aaron asked.

Her eyes widened. "No! I-I just never knew you could sing like that."

Now it was Aaron's turn to be surprised. "What?"

"Your solo," Haley gushed. "It was amazing. I was sure George would get the part of Frederic, but you're some harsh competition."

It took Hotch a minute to figure out who Haley was talking about. He had forgotten that Foyet's first name was George. He flushed at the praise. "Thanks."

She smiled her beautiful white smile. "You're welcome." She headed into the aisle and out of the auditorium.

Aaron stood there with a dopey little smile on his face. He shook his head and decided he needed to get moving, but he could not wipe away that smile.

Once out the door, a voiced asked, "I'm guessing they went well, then?"

Hotch turned to see Sean standing there. "I thought you were getting a ride home?"

"Yeah," Sean said awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't really think that answer through."

Hotch chuckled. "Whatever. Let's go."

* * *

 **UnSubs:**

 **Adam Rain - 8:10 (Puppet dude-not the multiple personality guy from Conflicted)**

 **William Cochran - 11:5**

 **Megan Kane - 4:16 (She doesn't actually have anything to do with music, but I couldn't find a UnSub/character that did...)**

* * *

 **The song Aaron sings is called "Paradox". Copy this link and you can watch a video of the song. (Hotch sings the part of the dude in the sailor outfit.)** **watch?v=XXhJKzI1u48**

 **In other news, what did ya'll think of Hotch? I'm not sure how well I wrote him, so if you think he's too OOC, let me know. I may rewrite the chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **Next time on Quantico High: Lauren - Emily Prentiss**


	6. Lauren - Emily Prentiss

**A/N: Apparently Tuesdays and Thursdays are not good update days. (Wish someone would've told me that earlier. You know who you are.) Anyway...**

 **Emily Time!**

 **But first, shout outs!**

 **Writer Nicole (Guest): You are completely ridiculous. You know that right? ;-)**

 **Before we start reading, I need to say this: Mothers can be wonderful people and the opinions found in this chapter are purely for characterization purposes. Thank you.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Friday, 8/28/2015

* * *

Friday morning woke Emily Prentiss with a cat to the face. She was in her bed and snuggled in warmth, when Sergio decided now would be a good time for his breakfast. He nudged her face with his moist little cat nose several times and when that did not rose her, he attacked her hair.

"Go away, Serg…" Emily groaned, trying to push the cat off the bed. Sergio simply jumped away from her hair and on to her feet. When he managed to bite her big toe through the quilt, she decided enough was enough.

Emily wiggled her feet around and watched her cat with a sleepy, but playful grin. Sergio sat ready to pounce. There was a beat and then the cat was all over her feet. She laughed as her feet fought to free themselves from the clutches of Sergio.

On her nightstand, her phone buzzed. She glanced over at it and saw the time.

7:08.

Emily took a moment to process that, then she panicked. She needed to get going or she would be late for school. Personally, she didn't give a crap about school, but her mother did, and if Emily ever had to hear _that_ lecture again, it would be too soon.

She pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a tight fitting red t-shirt. Contrary to what Penelope thought, she was not goth. She was not one for makeup, but she still put on mascara everyday. She laced on her grey Converse high tops and pulled her Union Jack sweatshirt on. She grab her purse and backpack from the floor and headed out.

* * *

When she got to school, Emily checked her phone. Her mother had sent her a text.

 _I will not be coming home for the weekend. I am going to be in DC for a translating assignment. You will have the house to yourself. Do not destroy it._

She rolled her eyes. Her mother had to be perfect even in her text messages. But at least she would get the house to herself. As soon as this day was over, she had two days to do absolutely nothing. Her pain-in-the-ass mother was going to be away for the weekend and it would just be her and Sergio. Pure bliss.

* * *

Emily lounged in the chair attached to her desk in English 3. She was so zoned out, she barely noticed when JJ sat down in the seat in front of her.

The sophomore quickly spotted Emily's smile, "You finally dumped Ian?" the blonde asked.

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, JJ. My mom's going to be gone for the weekend."

JJ chuckled knowingly. "Ah, I see."

Derek sat down and stared at his books with a serious expression. Emily raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior. "What's got your panties in a twist, Derek?"

He sent her a pointed glare. "Very funny, Emily." She flashed him her Cheshire cat grin. He paused for a second as if debating whether to continue. "Do you guys think Dave and Hotch have been acting weird?"

JJ seemed to think for a moment. "Sure, I guess."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't worry about too much. They had," she paused for dramatic effect, "The Conversation."

"What?" asked Derek. He and JJ both looked confused by her statement.

"Remember how Hotch called Dave outside the cafeteria on Wednesday?" They both nodded. "Well, they had what I call The Conversation. I don't really know much about it, besides that it's happened at least once a year since their freshman year. They don't speak to each other for a day, but eventually patch it up. It should be over by Monday."

"How do you know all that?" JJ asked incredulously.

Emily shrugged. "When someone's been your only consistent friend for four years and have had the same argument every year, you learn things."

Derek was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by the bell and Blake starting class. Emily zoned out of the lecture and planned her weekend.

* * *

When the bell rang at the end of Trig, Emily nearly cried in relief. It was the most horrible class she had ever taken. She would ask her mom to drop it, if she did not think the woman would have a panic attack at the suggestion.

She met up with Spencer and Derek in the junior locker hall and the three made their way to Chemistry. Emily did not have high hopes for this class either. There were a crap ton of math concepts already and that was not her strong suit. The only reason she had a decent grade was because Spencer just could not help but correct her when she made a mistake. Which was mildly annoying but to her benefit in the end.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Derek, noticing Emily's distractedness.

"Did you know that that phrase is actually one of the few idioms that we know how it became popularized?" Spencer asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "In 1522, Sir Thomas More wrote "As it often happeth that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that, not without some note and reproach of such vagrant mind, other folk suddenly say to them, 'A penny for your thought.'" It's thought to mean that a wise man had fallen silent and in order to gain his wisdom, you have pay him. The saying is used nearly the same way today. However, despite More's use, the saying didn't gain widespread popularity until after 1547, with a book written by John Heywood."

"Thank you, Pretty boy," Derek said sarcastically. "I needed that."

Emily simply laughed at Spencer's bewildered expression.

* * *

Lunch dragged on. As Emily had predicted, Hotch and Dave were still not talking to each other. However, their bad mood did not put a damper on Penelope. She was gushing about a boy in her computer class called Keith or Kevin or something. The brunette was not really paying attention.

"Is that where all my lovin's been going, Babygirl?" Derek accused jokingly.

"You know it, my caramel mocha latte," Penelope winked.

Derek feigned a broken heart. "I knew a woman as great as the sugar goddess Penelope Garcia could ever love a poor excuse of-"

"Lauren," said a voice from behind Emily. She instantly knew who it was. Only one person called her by that name.

"Ian, I thought I told you not to call me that anymore?" she said without turning.

"Sorry, but you'll always be Lauren to me," he said smoothly.

Finally, she turned to face him. "Why are you here Ian?"

"What? I can't see my girlfriend at lunch?"

"You can, but you never do. So, I'll ask again. Why are you here?"

Ian Doyle dropped to a knee and pulled out a white rose. "I'm here because I need to ask a very important question. Lauren, will you be my date to Homecoming?"

Emily's face turned as red as a tomato. She hated being the center of attention. Ian, on the other hand, loved it and tried to make a spectacle out of everything.

"Yes," Emily answered quickly. "Now get up!" she half-whispered.

Ian grinned. "I'll be picking you up at seven," he said with a wink. He handed Emily the rose and left.

There was silence for a moment, then Spencer, looking very concerned, said, "Emily, your face is really red."

JJ snorted a laugh. Actually snorted. That set off a chain reaction of laughs, even Hotch and Dave joined in. Emily buried her head in her arms in embarassment.

When things quieted down, Derek asked, "What's with the Lauren thing?"

"That's Emily's middle name," explained Penelope. "She went through this identity crisis thing last fall and insisted everyone call her Lauren. The name didn't stick, but Ian and the clothes did. She went total goth. I think I might have her yearbook picture in my laptop somewhere."

Emily looked horrified. "What?! You told me you deleted all those! We had a deal!"

"I did." Penelope smiled innocently. "But our deal didn't mention anything about what could happen if I got a new laptop."

* * *

After Lunch, Emily had French 5. It was the highest level French class the high school provided. She would love the class, seeing as she actually enjoyed learning foreign languages, however, the teacher was her mother, Elizabeth Prentiss.

Because of this fact, the class was, by default, the worst.

If Emily were any other student, Mrs. Prentiss would be an amazing teacher. She spoke the language fluently and was a skilled teacher. But, in Emily's opinion, Elizabeth was harder on her than she needed to be. She was making an A, for goodness sake.

The bell rang just as Emily took her seat.

Mrs. Prentiss began class the way she always did. "Bonjour jeunes gens."

"Bonjour, Madame Prentiss," the class echoed.

"Commençons..."

Emily simply mouthed the words and pretended to be studious. She could not wait to get out of this class.

* * *

Emily made her way to the library for her fifth hour free period. She sat at her usual table and pulled out her Chemistry and Trig textbooks to use as pillows. It did not work out well. She sighed and opened up the Trig book and tried to work the problems Grace had assigned. That did not work out well either.

By the time she gave up, she had managed to burn forty-five minutes, which left fifteen until the bell. She glanced down at the front pocket of her purse where she stashed her smokes and lighter. There was plenty of time left to light up and still get to Behavior. Well, she would probably end up being late, and JJ would immediately guess where she had been.

That would not be good. Emily could deal with JJ's complaints, but if Spencer found out it would break his heart. She did not want to be responsible for that. JJ probably would not actually tell him, but she did not want to risk it.

Emily consoled herself with the thought that she could smoke all she wanted over the weekend. Mild guilt arose at the broken promise, but she quickly squashed it. Right now, she needed to figure out what to do for the last few minutes of her free period.

* * *

Gideon had given them Thursday's class period to work on the interactive profile reports, because today they were presenting their results. The presentations were supposed to be short and to the point. Gideon did not like long reports. They went in the order of the interviews.

Hotch and Dave stood at the front of the class. The tension between them was barely visible, but Emily knew that was simply because both seniors knew how to school their features to show whatever they needed.

"We concluded that Ms. Lewis typically spends her weekends outside. Usually gardening," said Hotch smoothly.

Dave spoke next. "During the colder months, she often reads and paints. When her fiance visits, they cook together."

"Occasionally, she visits her parents. When she does, they like to play board games," Hotch finished.

Gideon nodded. "Thank you." The seniors sat. "Girls? You're next."

Emily, JJ, and Penelope stood. JJ began, "Ms. Lewis enjoys spending her time outside. She often runs and has several gardens, including a vegetable and a herb farm."

"She also likes to draw and paint," Penelope added. "Her favorite things to paint are her flowers."

Emily finished their presentation. "She likes to make Italian and Indian cuisine with her fiance. She and her parents often play board games."

Gideon thanked them and they sat. Spencer and Derek went next but they did not really add any new information. After they sat, Gideon went to the front of the classroom.

"What did you learn from this exercise?" he asked coolly.

Spencer raised his hand. "We just told you."

Gideon cracked a small smile. "Not what I meant Ried. I want to know what you learned about each other." After more confused looks, Gideon sighed. "Alright. We'll start off simpler. Why did you approach the interview the way you did?"

Dave spoke up. "I did the talking because Aaron isn't personable."

Hotch frowned at the other seniors statement.

"We didn't let Emily talk for that same reason," JJ teased and Penelope let out a quiet laugh.

"We had Spencer do it because he's smaller and she would feel motherly," Derek commented.

"Thank you, Morgan," Gideon said. He turned to JJ. "Jareau, why did you disallow Prentiss from the interview?"

Emily answered for her. "We didn't want to overwhelm Ms. Lewis by all of us coming in at once. Every other group could only send two people in so we did the same."

Gideon nodded, obviously satisfied with the answer. He turned to the rest of the class and asked, "How many of you have started on your empathy projects?"

Spencer, Dave, and Penelope were the only ones who raised their hands. Gideon frowned. "The rest of you should get started on that. You need to have the person picked out by the end of next week."

Suddenly the school's intercom crackled to life. A female voice sounded over the speakers, "Jason Gideon. Principal Strauss wants to see you in her office."

Gideon's face twisted in annoyance. He spoke to the class, "As you just heard, Erin requires my presence, so I'm concluding today's lesson. You may leave when the bell rings. Have a nice weekend." And with that, he pushed open the classroom door and left.

The seven friends sat there, stunned.

After a few moments, Derek spoke up. "So... What do we do now?"

"Take a nap," suggested Emily.

"Study?" offered the genius.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Yeah. We can appoint Spencer as the new teacher. He's got the lectures down pat."

Penelope elbowed him and pulled out her laptop. "Who wants to see that yearbook picture of Emily?" She grinned.

Emily just groaned.

* * *

 **UnSubs:**

 **Ian Doyle - 6:17 & 6:18**

* * *

 **Audience participation time!**

 **I need characters for Hotch, Emily, Derek, and JJ for the empathy project. I would love to hear your ideas for UnSubs or other characters.**

* * *

 **Next time: Cupcakes - Penelope Garcia**


	7. Cupcakes - Penelope Garcia

**A/N: First things first: I edited the dialogue from Emily's French class. (Thanks again!) I'm not French nor do I take it, so when I found out it was wrong, I corrected it. Sorry.**

 **Big thanks to all the followers and favorites this story has received. Onto the reviews!**

 **ahowell1993: Thanks for the ideas. But Hotch is too close to Foyet and you're about to find out why Peter Lewis won't work.**

 **SpenceFTW: I really like idea of Owen for Derek. There's a lot of ways I can spin that. ^_^ Easter's going to show up later, but I like the idea of using the exorcism episode. As for JJ, Askari or Hastings could work, but I think I may go a different direction with her. However, I can promise you that at least one of those two will make an appearance some time soon.**

 **Etolrah: I hope you can figure out what's wrong with your updates/email. I'm glad you liked the Hotch chapter so much. I panicked just like he did when I found out Pirates of Penzance was a musical. But it's actually really funny. As for the whole Emily-knowing-the-seniors-for-four-years thing, I made who she was talking about intentionally vague. (We'll get to that later. ;-) ) What I can tell you is that Emily would have been an 8th grader when the Hotch/Foyet thing happened, so she would have been in middle school. In the US, most public schools split up the middle and high school. Emily met them when she was a 7th grader and they were 8th graders, year one. She didn't count the year she was an 8th grader and they were 9th (when the incident occurred) because they didn't go the same school. When she became a freshman, the three met up again. She's known them ever since aka three years. Therefore, four years. As for Pettora, I'm so glad you pointed him out to me. I've actually been looking for this episode for a while. I'm going to re-watch the episode and see if he'll work.**

 **[Phew! Long review = long response.]**

 **CriminalOutsider'sGirl14: I'm glad you're liking it. It always nice to see a familiar name pop up in my email.**

 **WriterNicole: It's funny how you think you know what's going on. -_-**

 **Nerdyknitter1: Thanks! I'm trying to include as many characters as possible. Speaking of which...**

 **I have an important note at the end. Read it!**

 **Also, thanks to all the people who checked out my one-shot, _Fear_. We needed some fanfiction for that episode and I was tired of waiting.**

 **On to the cupcakes! *cough* I mean, chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Monday, 8/31/2015

* * *

For quite possibly the first time in her life Penelope Garcia was happy that it was Monday. She, like Emily, was aware of Hotch and Dave's arguing habits and knew that everything would be back to normal today.

As she hopped off her bus, she spotted Derek standing nearby She was confused as to why he would be out here. He did not take the bus. She remembered when he told the story of how he got his license - it was hilarious. She shook her head to clear those thoughts away. That was not important right now. She had a mystery to solve.

She wobbled along in her pink high heels. "Why hello, my chiseled chocolate dreamboat," she said from behind him. Derek spun around in a panic, before realising that it was her.

"God, Penelope!" he gasped. "Don't do that!"

She instantly picked up on the lack of nickname and made a mental note to never sneak up on Derek. "Sorry. Whatcha doing?"

"Waiting for Pretty boy," he replied simply. At her confused expression, he clarified, "So he doesn't get jumped on his way to the lockers."

Penelope nodded. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Well I've been waiting for about," he glanced at his watch, "seven minutes."

She shot him a wry smile. "Not what I meant and you know it."

He grinned back. "Since the third day of school."

"Handsome and chivalrous. Just the way I like my men." She winked.

Derek laughed and so did she. The junior was the perfect addition to their little group. He balanced them in a way Penelope had not realised they needed. He could be serious like Hotch but joke around like Dave. He had the perfect mixture of Emily's stubbornness and JJ's civility. Not to mention, he had appointed himself Spencer's protector - a sure fire way to get into any of their good books.

"What's in the box?" asked Derek.

Penelope had been so preoccupied that she had nearly forgot the large desert box in her arms. "Oh! That's a surprise. For lunch." Which reminded her that she needed to get them inside. She started for the front doors. "See ya later, chocolate thunder!"

"Can't wait, Baby girl!" he called back.

She smiled and made her way inside. The hallways were crowded in the typical Monday fashion, so she was extra careful on her journey to her locker.

Her smile grew when she saw it. Her locker never failed to lift her spirits, and, on good days, only made things better. The thing was a shrine to individuality. Every year she had a new theme; this year's was rainbow safari. The front of the locker was decorated with pink cheetah print, blue zebra stripes, and green leopard-spotted scrapbook paper. On the inside, hung pictures from various dances and events she and her friends had gone to.

Penelope carefully placed the box on the top shelf of the locker. She couldn't afford to let anything happen to those cupcakes.

* * *

Penelope's first class was Computer Sciences. When she first heard about it she did not think it would have anything of value for her, but she signed up anyway. She had never been so glad she had arbitrarily done something.

For starters, there was Kevin Lynch. He was good - almost as good as her. Almost. But he was funny and sweet and she liked him from the minute he tried to block her from getting into his computer. He failed. No one beat Penelope Garcia at coding.

Well, almost no one. The teacher of the class was a man called Peter Lewis. He was quite possibly the most brilliant man she had ever met. He was a certifiable genius - she would know since she hung out with Spencer as often as she did. His codes were nearly invisible to most scans she knew and even to some she created.

Mr. Lewis's teaching methods were a little strange though. He thought the best practice was hands on. Meaning he had them hack into places. Places like each other's laptops, the school library, even the teachers' gradebooks. Not a great role model.

Today they were hacking each other again. She was paired up with Kevin since everyone else in the class was nowhere near her level. They were just getting into the nitty-gritty of it when the door opened and a skinny black boy came in. He held a laptop under his arm and approached the teacher.

Penelope paused her furious typing to listen to their conversation.

"Uh, Mr. Lewis?" the boy asked. "I'm Russ Montgomery. I just transferred schools and-"

"Alright," Lewis interrupted. He pointed to her and Kevin. "Try your stuff against those two."

Russ nodded. He came over to them and stood there awkwardly. "Hi."

Just then Kevin shouted, "Yes! I'm in!"

Penelope looked down at her laptop and saw the mouse moving on it's own. She sent Kevin a silly glare. Then she smiled warmly and gestured for the new boy to sit. "Hi! I'm Penelope. This is Kevin."

"Russ Montgomery," he introduced.

She brightened. "Okay, Monty. Let's see what you got."

He looked a little taken aback by the nickname but shrugged it off. "Bring it."

* * *

After Computer, Penelope had English 2 and then Algebra 2 with JJ. She bounded up to the other blonde.

"Jayje!" Penelope squealed. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

JJ laughed as she crushed her in a hug. "Pen, it was only the weekend!"

"And three class hours!"

"Technically two," JJ protested with a grin.

As they took their seats, JJ asked the one question Penelope was hoping to avoid.

"Do you think Hotch and Dave will have patched things up by now?"

She gave her a hopeful smile. "I don't know what I'd do if they weren't."

* * *

After the bell rang to signal lunch time, Penelope retrieved the box of cupcakes from her locker. She smiled happily as she approached the cafeteria. She was so ready for things to get back to normal.

She was the last person to their table - just as she planned. Derek and Emily were teasing Spencer about something, while JJ watched with an amused smile. Dave and Hotch sat as far away from each other they could and did not speak.

That was not right. The seniors were supposed to be friends again. Everything was supposed to go back to normal today.

Worry filled her mind. What if Hotch and Dave never forgave each other? Would their group disband? Would she lose her friends?

Penelope shook her head. She could not afford to think like that. She needed to be the happy one. As long as she had hope, everything would get better.

She adjusted her grip on the box and put on her best smile.

"I brought a surprise!" she exclaimed cheerfully as she set the box on the table. "Cupcakes!"

The light of sugar addiction filled Spencer's eyes. "Gimme!"

He made a move for the box but Emily pushed it out of his reach. "Oh no you don't."

Spencer's pout made everyone laugh. Penelope gave everyone a cupcake, setting two down in front of her her baby genius - he could use the calories anyway. JJ licked the frosting off her's, and Derek pulled the bottom off his, smushed it on top, and made some sort of cupcake sandwich. Spencer straight up devoured both of his and within minutes he was asking for another. Emily ate her's like a normal person, but quirked an eyebrow at the others' antics. As Penelope watched her friends enjoy their desserts, her smile grew brighter.

But when she glanced at Hotch and Dave, her expression fell. Hotch had not touched his, and Dave was just picking at the wrapper. Penelope felt tears prick her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, but Derek had already noticed.

"What's wrong, Baby girl?" His concern was palpable.

Penelope shook her head, trying to tell him that this was not a good time. He looked confused, but got the signal. She glanced back over at Hotch's untouched sweet snack sadly. What Derek did not get, Emily instantly understood.

The junior girl slammed her hands on the table and everyone turned to her in surprise. Emily never made a scene unless she was angry. "Dave. Hotch. Will you two just kiss and make up already?!"

The two seniors stared at her. The tips of Dave's ears turned pink at the accusation and Hotch's face colored.

"Wha-" Dave's voice squeaked and he cleared his throat. "What?"

"You heard me," Emily stated harshly. "I get that you had The Conversation. But that was last Wednesday - get over it already."

Hotch's face was still a little red. "The conversation?"

Emily sighed. "Last Wednesday you pulled Dave out of lunch and ever since you've both been acting like six year olds." She paused, then added, "It's upsetting Penelope."

The seniors' faces held a mixture of confusion and concern as they turned towards the usually peppy blonde. She looked them in the eyes before dropping her gaze to the cupcake box in front of her. But that one glance was all it took. She instantly realized that Hotch and Dave had no idea their behavior was affecting everyone like this. They did not recognise the fact that everyone was worried about them. They probably did not even realise that they had this fight every year.

Dave reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. He looked so sad. He seemed to be at a loss for what to do. He opened his mouth "I'm sorry, Penelope. I didn't-"

"I know," she said quietly. She pulled a small smile on her face. "But if you do it again, you and Mr. Hotch-rocket over there aren't going to be able to access to your laptops ever again."

The managed to dispel any remaining redness from Hotch's face. In fact, he looked paler than before. Neither senior knew how extensive Penelope's computer skills were, but they did not want to take any chances.

Dave sent her a mock salute and a wink. "Aye-aye Cap'n."

The conversation turned back to more basic things. However, slowly but surely, everyone's spirits picked themselves up. Maybe her plans had gone sideways , but she accomplished what she set out to do.

* * *

Penelope walked into the library with Derek and Spencer by her side. It was their fourth hour free period.

The three sat down at an empty table. Penelope pulled out her laptop and opened up her writing program. She had a brilliant idea for a new fanfiction. It had come to her during History and she wanted to get it down on paper before she forgot.

But before she could get to it, she heard a small sob come from across the room. She looked up and spotted a red haired girl with her head buried in her arms.

All thoughts of writing vanished from Penelope's mind. How could she just sit here, now that her friends were fixed, while someone else was suffering?

Penelope immediately snapped her laptop shut and piled her books into her arms. Startled at the sudden noise, Derek looked up at her - his question written on his face. Spencer was too engrossed in his book to notice the world around him. She used her head to gesture at the upset ginger and he nodded in understanding.

She walked over to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. The ginger's head shot up in panic and surprise. Penelope instantly felt bad for scaring her.

"Sorry," the blonde whispered. "Can I sit here?"

The girl nodded but the scared expression remained on her face.

"Hi. I'm Penelope. What's your name?"

"Monica." The girl spoke so quietly Penelope almost missed it.

"That's a really pretty name." The blonde smiled.

Monica did not respond. Not even a nod. The ginger simply continued staring at the table. The girl's obvious sadness only filled Penelope with determination and sympathy. She was going to Monica to smile if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

By the end of the free period, Penelope still had not gotten much of a response of any sort out of Monica. The girl's expression barely changed. There was no light or happiness in her eyes. But Penelope refused to give up.

It was right there that Penelope decided that Monica would be a better choice for her empathy project than Kevin. For starters, she was pretty sure have a crush on the subject she was doing it on would skew the results. Also Monica really needed someone. When Gideon told them of the project, Penelope assumed that he wanted them to make friends and then write about that friendship.

"Hello? Penelope? You in there?"

The blonde blinked and suddenly JJ was there waving her hand in front of the hacker's face.

"Huh?"

JJ snorted. "You zoned out there for a minute."

"Oh." Penelope flushed a little.

"Thinking of Kevin?" JJ asked, a little smirk lacing her features.

Penelope shot her an mildly annoyed frown. "No." She rolled her eyes playfully. "You are such a gossip, Jayje."

"I'm a gossip?" JJ asked with fake sass. The thinner blonde knew it was true. "Have you met yourself, Miss Garcia?"

"As a matter of fact-" Penelope was interrupted by the bell. Somehow they had arrived at their biology class without them realizing it. They quickly took their seats. They sat next to each other - something Penelope was forever grateful for.

Penelope looked at the board and saw a diagram and instruction on how to dissect a worm. She nearly fainted. She had completely forgot that Mr. Breitkopf had assigned that dissection today.

JJ noticed her distress. "Don't worry, Pen. We work as partners, remember? I'll do dissecting and you can take notes. Okay?"

Penelope nodded, but she did not feel much better. As much as she hated worms she did not want to cut one up. That was just disgusting.

Mr. Breitkopf began class. "As you can see from the board, we are dissecting a worm today." He pointed at the instructions written on the whiteboard. "Follow these instruction to the letter. You will be required to write a lab report for this experiment and I expect all of this to be completed in it. You will work in your assigned pairs, but I expect both students to take part. Understood?"

The class murmured their ascension.

"Good. One member of your team can come collect the specimen now."

JJ patted Penelope on the shoulder reassuringly and went up to get the worm. When she came back, Penelope almost lost her lunch right there. The worm was huge. The thing was swollen and slimy and so very dead and gross and-

Penelope took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. Puking would not help right now.

JJ watched her friend with a concerned expression. "You okay?"

Penelope nodded and pulled out her most sparkly and fluffy pen. "Let's hurry and get this over with."

The other sophomore nodded pityingly. "Okay, the first step-"

Suddenly the fire alarms went off.

"Oh thank God," cried Penelope, making off for the door. "A fire drill."

JJ chuckled to herself and decided not to point out that they would have to come back inside and finish the dissection anyway.

* * *

"That was quite possibly the disgusting thing I've ever done," JJ said to Penelope as the two blondes walked into Behavior.

"Dissection today?" chuckled Dave from behind them.

"Yeah," replied Penelope with a moan. "A worm."

Spencer popped up out of nowhere. "Did you know that some schools dissect cats?" Penelope and JJ stared in horror as the little genius continued. "This school used to up until this year."

Dave nodded in confirmation.

"Why'd they stop?" JJ asked, still horrified.

"Too many complaints from parents and students. Apparently, it's inhumane," Dave explained sarcastically.

Penelope gasped. "David Rossi! If I wasn't against violence of any sort I would slap you so hard your head would fly off."

"That's highly improbable," stated Spencer. "To break the neck of a human, 1,000 to 1,250 foot-pounds of torque is considered sufficient. That's not counting the fact that you'd have to break the skin as well. The amount of force a hand can apply to the face is nowhere near that amount. In fact-"

"I think she was speaking figuratively, Pretty boy," interrupted Derek. Hotch was following close behind the junior and he rolled his eyes as he picked up on the conversation.

"Can we move whatever this is out of the doorway?" asked Emily as she arrived.

Dave smirked at her. "Of course, m'lady Prentiss."

She gave him the stink eye. "No one finds you funny Dave."

Derek raised his hand. "I think it was hilarious."

"Then why didn't you laugh?" retorted JJ.

Derek opened his mouth, probably to respond with some witty remark, but Mr. Gideon cleared his throat loudly from outside in the hall.

"If you wouldn't mind taking your seats…." he deadpanned.

The seven students scurried to their desks just as the bell rang. Gideon walked to the center of the teaching area and wrote RAPPORT in big black letters on the board.

"Reid. What is this word?"

Spencer looked confused for a second, as if he didn't understand the question, but at Gideon's expectant expression, he spoke. "Rapport. It has it origins in French and is defined as 'a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well'."

Gideon nodded. "Good. Morgan, what does this word mean in a casual setting?"

"Um…. Making friends?" he answered, unsure.

"Prentiss, how would a therapist define this?"

"Getting someone comfortable enough to share their secrets," she said with an eye roll.

"Rossi, a cop's definition?"

The senior answered with a confident smirk. "Getting the suspect to trust you enough to spill the dirt."

Gideon raised his eyebrows but nodded. "Jareau, how would accomplish this?"

"Play to your assets," she responded confidently.

Gideon's face was expressionless. "Garcia, how could one 'play to their assets'?"

"W-Well, i-it would depend on th-the person you were dealing with." Penelope hated how she stuttered as she spoke, but Gideon always made her nervous. This wasn't her forte. The only reason she was in this class in the first place was because JJ and Emily had talked her into it.

Gideon's expression morphed into one of satisfaction. "Exactly. Everything depends on the other person. This is a big part of your empathy projects. The point of this project is to learn about others through what they tell you. Not from what you learn from outside sources. That's why I asked you find someone you don't know well.

So this week, we are going to work on building rapport. I already had you try this when you did the interactive profiles, but we are going to get into the mechanics of it now. I've already explained to you the different types of audiences you may find, so let's start with a unknown. What is the first thing you would do?"

"Introduce yourself. And begin a casual conversation," stated Hotch.

Dave shook his head. "But you need to know what you're looking for before you start talking."

The entire room seemed to hold its breath as the seniors spoke to each other. They had just begun to repair their friendship and no one wanted them to fight over something this petty.

Before the tension could get to tight, Derek interjected. "You're both wrong. Mr. Gideon has given us all the info. We don't know setting or goal yet. Or even the gender and style of person."

Penelope let out a quiet sigh of relief as Derek's answer defused the situation. Gideon smiled at Derek. "Good answer, Morgan. As I've said before, part of how people work is by confusion. Words can mean many things and smart people will use that to their advantage."

Gideon went on to explain more about the unknown they were dealing with. Penelope took dutiful notes and prayed that he would not call on her. Soon enough the bell was ringing and class was over.

As the seven made their way out of the classroom, Gideon called out, "Garcia, if I could speak with you."

Penelope froze. Spencer, JJ, and Derek all turned to look at her. Spencer smiled. "We'll wait for you outside."

She nodded and turned back into the classroom. Sometimes, it was annoying how readable she was, or how good her friends were at it.

"Garcia, I need to talked to you about your grades in this class."

Penelope instantly paled. She was doing that badly?

"I don't seem to be able to type them into the gradebook," Gideon continued.

She blinked in surprised confusion. "Uh… C-Could you repeat that sir?"

"I think there's a problem with the school's gradebook and I can't access your grades. I need to give you the point from the last assignment."

"Oh." Penelope flushed in pride that a teacher would come to her for help with a computer. "Yeah. Sure. Can I see your computer?"

Gideon motioned for her to take a seat at his school-issue desktop. Penelope quickly brought up the school's teacher page and started typing.

"My login is-" Gideon began.

"I'm in," Penelope said. She pulled up the gradebook and examined the page. A few more key-strokes and she brought up the code. "I see. Here's your problem…." She listed off a bunch of hacker jargon that with one look at the teacher's face, she knew he didn't understand.

"Is it fixed?" he asked when she finished speaking.

"Yep." She smiled broadly and stood.

Gideon gave her a slight nod. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Derek and Spencer were waiting for her in the hall.

She cocked her head in confusion. "Where's JJ?"

"Some guy-" Derek said.

"Will LaMontagne," Spencer interjected.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Asked to talk with her about Homecoming and they left."

"Wait. Will?" Penelope squealed. "Ooh! JJ! That little sneak! How dare she!"

Derek and Spencer looked at her as if they were debating whether to run away from a psycho with bow and arrow.

She shrugged it off. "Girl things."

They still seemed a little wary but accepted her explanation. They walked for a little bit.

"So what did Mr. Gideon want?" asked Spencer.

"Oh, just some help with his computer," Penelope replied flippantly.

"A teacher asked you for help with a computer?" asked Derek, astonished.

The sophomore looked taken aback. "For your information, Derek Morgan, I am this school's greatest techno whiz ever to walk the halls. No one is greater than this information highway."

Derek held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry. My bad."

Penelope gave him a generous smile. "It's okay, my flarpy blundergruff."

A look of consternation crossed over Spencer's features. "What does that even mean?"

The other two students looked at him curiously. "What?" They had to laugh at honest confusion that lined the genius's face.

"What's a... flarpy blundergruff?"

* * *

 **Characters:**

 **Kevin Lynch**

 **Peter Lewis - 10:21**

 **Russ Montgomery - Beyond Borders**

 **Monica Kingston - 7:8**

* * *

 **Important note at the end!**

 **If you want to see more of certain characters, let me know. Homecoming is coming up soon and if you want to see a familiar face that's where you'll probably find it.**

 **Also this is a forewarning, (I'll put another one on that chapter itself) I know nothing of actual Homecoming. Or even normal high school occurrences. Which makes this whole story kinda weird in retrospect, but moving on. If anyone has any suggestions or experiences that they think would fit well in this story or just want to inspire me, please send it in a PM or review. Everyone will get credit for their ideas.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **Next time: The Lead Role - Aaron Hotchner**


	8. The Lead Role - Aaron Hotchner

**A/N: O-M-Freakin-G! This chapter was SO hard to write. Not to mention all my teachers decided the week before spring break was a GREAT time to dump twenty MORE pounds of homework in our backpacks. (Not that I'm bitter or anything. *eye roll*)**

 **New thing: Starting now, I'm going to give dates at the beginning of each chapter. This refers to the date the chapter takes place. It's mostly for my personal benefit so that I can keep track of what goes when and where goes who and how goes why.**

 **Anyway! Thanks to all the faves and follows you have all given this story! It makes me so happy to see them!**

 **Shout outs:**

 **ahowell1993 - I TOTALLY ship Spencer & Maeve, however, they won't be going to homecoming together. Sorry. It's just too soon. Spencer isn't that confident outside his own friend group just yet. BUT don't forget... There's still ****_prom_** **to look forward to. *wink, wink***

 **WriterNicole - If I ever need help hacking things I'll make sure to ask you.**

 **CriminalOutsider'sGirl14 -Thank you so much for the encouragement and for reviewing every chapter. Each of the main seven will get exactly the same amount of chapters. I can't wait to see what I have in store too!**

 **Mossnose173 - Your ideas were great. I wasn't quite sure how to incorporate Savannah in to this story line, (Honestly, I kinda forgot about her until the most recent episodes. *nervous laugh*) but introducing her during homecoming is a great idea. I can't promise everyone's homecoming will be that great though...**

 **JuliaBC - Thanks! Yes. Kate will show up a few more times. I'm just not really sure of her character yet. One season isn't really enough to get a good grasp on characterization, but I'm still working on her. If you know any good character studies about her, let me know. I would love to get to know her better.**

 **Etlorah - Thanks for the corrections, I think I got them all. Going back through the chapter, I understand what you mean. I do change directions pretty rapidly. If I figure out a good way to fix it, I may go back and rewrite it later. This chapter will probably be really choppy too. Sorry.**

 **Guest - Kate is... difficult. I really liked her in the show and she will get her own chapter in here sooner or later. Same with Blake. (Elle, however...) But I'm getting off topic... Kate will definitely be at homecoming and I hoping to give her a small part in the mystery too.**

 **Chapter time! Everyone give a warm round of applause to Aaron Hotchner! *wink***

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Wednesday, 9/2/2015

* * *

All this stress was going to give Aaron premature gray hairs. The cast list for Pirates of Penzance came out today and it was stressing him out so much that he was not paying attention to his civics class.

"Mr. Hotchner? Mr. Hotchner. Aaron. Are you alright with this?" Strauss demanded.

Aaron blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry. What?"

Strauss sighed. "Will you lead the government team in the October debate?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Good. Mr. Foyet, you will argue that the lawyer should be required to defend an obviously guilty party. Mr. Hotchner will take the position that a lawyer should not have to. Any questions?"

The class shook their heads and Strauss continued, "The debate will take place in four weeks. Beginning tomorrow, I will give you every Thursday class period as in-class work days. Use them to your advantage."

A kid in the back raised his hand. "Will parents and friends be able to watch?"

"Yes. The debate will take place on school grounds and any students who want to watch the debate will be excused from their sixth hour class."

A whisper of excitement went around the classroom. Aaron had expected this though. Strauss always gave permission for students to watch the debates - it helped inflate her ego.

Aaron glanced at his watch, 8:57. Three minutes until the bell. Next he had Anatomy and Calculus.

The bell rang soon enough. As he made his way to Anatomy, he thought about running over to auditorium, but quickly decided that there was not enough time to get there and back. Aaron turned in the direction of his next class and ran straight into another kid. Papers went flying and the boy fell to the ground.

Aaron took a step back in surprise, but immediately felt bad. He reached out a hand to help the kid up. The boy grabbed it and Aaron pulled the kid to his feet. The senior looked him over for injuries and quickly came to the conclusion that the kid was lost. No freshman walked the senior halls unless they were lost, doing a dare, or had a death wish.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Hotch asked, concerned.

The boy frowned. "My name's Jack. Not kid. And I'm looking for my sister."

Aaron raised an eyebrow at the kid's - Jack's - attitude. "Your sister have a name?"

"Haley Brooks." Aaron eyes widened in mild surprise. "You know her?" Jack asked.

Hotch blinked, regaining his normal mask of indifference. "Yeah. We're doing drama together. I didn't know she had a brother though."

Jack shrugged. "This is my first year, so…."

"I guessed as much," said the senior with a smirk.

"Hey! I'll have you know-"

"Jack!" exclaimed a female voice from behind Aaron. "What are you doing here?"

The senior turned to see Haley quickly approaching. "Some of the boys here wouldn't think twice about robbing you blind."

Jack immediately took a step back from Aaron, eyeing him suspiciously. Haley sighed. "Not Aaron. He's a good guy." Jack relaxed a little but kept his distance.

Aaron tried hard not to blush at the praise. He cleared his throat. "I believe Jack was looking for you."

Jack's demeanor quickly changed. He went from hostile to relaxed in a second. "Right! I'm going to Henry's house after school so don't wait up for me after practice."

Haley nodded and Jack ran off. She let out a breath of a sigh and shook her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with him."

Aaron shrugged. "If it's any consolation, I haven't figured it out yet either."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You got a brother?"

"Yeah. The infamous sophomore, Sean Hotchner," he proclaimed to the hall.

Haley laughed and checked her watch. "Goodness! We're going to be late!" She turned away and headed towards her next class. Before she was out of sight, she turned and called, "I'll see you later, Aaron!"

Hotch waved back. When he turned back towards the direction of his Anatomy class, his face was twisted in the happiest smile it had ever held. And no matter how hard he tried, Aaron couldn't wipe it off.

Suddenly a brilliant idea flashed across Aaron's mind. Jack would be the perfect candidate for Gideon's empathy project. Not to mention, it would be the perfect excuse to spend time around Haley.

Hotch mentally patted himself on the back. Now he just had to figure this new development into his, as Penelope called it, "so busy you'd need twelve different highlighters to figure it all out" schedule.

* * *

Aaron was the model of focus throughout Anatomy and Calculus. He did not even bat an eyelash when Foyet tried to catch his attention during Anatomy. He could not afford distractions right now. He had a test in both classes on Friday. He hated when the teachers ganged up like that - no matter how inadvertently. He should be fine in Calc, but he was not as sure in Anatomy. Maybe he would ask Spencer for some memory techniques.

Hotch worried about the genius. He worried about all his friends. Even Dave. Although the boy was older, he could make some seriously stupid decisions when the situation called for smart ones. Aaron sometimes wondered why the group had picked him as their de-facto leader.

Before Aaron could delve too deeply into that subject, a sudden weight dropped onto his shoulder and a familiar voice cackled next to his ear. Hotch rolled his eyes. He didn't even need to turn his head to know it was Dave. Thank goodness Penelope's cupcakes had worked.

Dave raised his eyebrow cockily. "That locker isn't going anywhere, Aaron."

Hotch blinked. He had not realized that he had been trying to bore a hole in his locker with his glare. He let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Yeah. Right."

Dave's eyebrows only rose higher. "You know if you keep standing here, you'll miss lunch and Penelope will come hunt you down."

"Yeah. Right," was Aaron's only response.

Dave's expression changed from one of amusement to one of concern. "Aaron?" Dave placed a hand on his fellow senior's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Aaron shook his head, finally pulling himself out of his thoughts. "I'm good. Just got a lot on my mind."

Hotch could see that Dave didn't buy it. "Really, Dave. I'm fine."

Thankfully, the other senior let the subject drop. "Whatever. Let's get to lunch."

The boys walked into the bustling school cafeteria. The lunch attendants were serving ground something-or-other and both seniors were glad that they brought their own lunches for once. Spencer and Derek were not so lucky.

The entire table stared at the juniors' lunch in horrified fascination. Emily poked Spencer's with a fork and everyone watched with rapt attention.

"I think it's still alive," JJ whispered in awe and trepidation.

"They chopped it up, fried it, and chopped it again. And it's still moving," Penelope said, eyes wide. "Let's try Derek's."

"No need," said Derek. "Ain't no way that stuff's going anywhere near my face, man."

Emily grinned maliciously and stabbed some meat onto the fork. "Open up Derek. The mystery meat airplane is coming in for a landing."

Derek's eyes widened in panic. "Uh-uh. No way!" He tried batting her hand away, but she changed directions and dropped the ground up meat into spencer's open mouth. She lifted his chin and snapped his mouth shut. Everyone froze.

Spencer's reaction was priceless. His eyes were wide in surprise and if Emily wasn't holding his chin up, Aaron was sure it would be on the table.

Slowly the boy's face twisted into an expression of intense disgust. His nose and brows wrinkled in distaste. He gulped down the offending food and rapidly licked his lips, trying to dispel the foul flavor.

He turned to Emily. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

Suddenly, Dave started to laugh. Then Derek and JJ joined in. And then Emily and Penelope soon after. Aaron took a second glance at Spencer's grossed out expression, and had to chuckle as well.

Spencer, however, did not seem to find the humor in the situation. He tried to get everyone to cease their giggles, but after several failed attempts, he resorted to pouting, which only resulted in another round of laughter.

Aaron came down from his fit of giggles first but he still smiled. He looked around at his laughing friends and sighed happily. This was just what he needed right now. All the stress from his grades, home life, and college prep was going to his head. Maybe his friends were right - he did need to chill out once in awhile.

* * *

After lunch, Hotch had English 4 with Dave. He wanted to check out the cast list for drama again, but reluctantly decided that he didn't have time. If Dave noticed his mental debate he didn't say anything.

They went to class and took their seats. Dave slouched in his chair with a groan.

"Ugh. I hate walking around so much," the senior complained.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Dave, we only walked up one flight of stairs and about ten feet."

"I know! They should put in escalators."

"You want to pay for that?"

"Psh. I don't pay taxes."

"Lost your job again?"

Dave glared at Aaron with mock annoyance. "No."

Hotch easily saw through the lie. "Where you planning on working next?"

Dave just shrugged. "I don't know. My parents are gonna stop paying for my gas if I don't find another soon though." He dropped his head onto his desk.

Aaron shot him a sympathetic frown. He knew how important Dave's car was to him. Thankfully Hotch never had to go through any of that. As soon as he was able he got a job at the nearest supermarket and had been working there ever since. "I think the theater on 46th is hiring."

Dave's head shot up. "Really?"

Aaron nodded. "Yeah. I was trying to get Sean to get a job a few weeks ago and that popped up. I don't know if-"

"Thanks Aaron!" Dave interrupted. "I'm gonna check that out as soon as I get home."

Aaron simply shook his head in amusement. Knowing Dave, he would forget it as soon as the next bell rang.

* * *

The seniors walked into the gym and found Derek waiting for them. Students were milling about practicing different sports and attempting various activities. Most of the boys were trying stupid stunts to impress the few girls. Usually the class was bigger - Aaron guessed that most of the girls were in the smaller gym across the hall with the gymnastic equipment and cheerleading mats.

They reached Derek and the younger boy turned to them with a mildly confused expression.

"I'm assuming that 'free gym' means we get to do whatever we want?" Derek asked.

Hotch nodded affirmatively.

"Everything except sit around," Dave added.

The boys looked around the gym. They saw a basketball game in progress as well as several small wrestling matches. The wrestlers were on mats and Coach Scott was supervising, but nevertheless none of the boys were interested. They spotted several guys fooling around with different weight sets.

"How long do you think it'll be before they drop one on their foot?" Dave asked Derek cockily.

"At least twice before the hour's up," Derek responded.

Aaron rolled his eyes at his friends antics. Then he noticed the junior eyeing the basketball game. Apparently, Dave did too.

The senior grinned. "Interested in basketball are we, Derek?"

Startled, Derek instantly turned his attention back to them. "What? I-"

"Quit it, Dave," chided Hotch. He spoke to Derek, "Do you want to play?"

Derek looked unsure. "I don't know. Coach Scott brought it up before, but…."

"I think about half the team is over there," Aaron said, glancing at the players' faces. "I know some of them. We could introduce you."

Derek paused and that was all Dave needed. He grabbed the junior's arm and pulled him towards the game. "I'm tired of just standing around. Let's play already."

Aaron sighed, but followed anyway.

* * *

The boys had a good time playing basketball. Derek was surprisingly good. He kept trying to play it down but Dave wouldn't let him. The guy had this thing about stating things exactly how they were. Aaron had found that to be one of Dave's greatest qualities: no matter what, he would set you straight. He didn't mince words and, when it came to his friends, he could be honest to a fault.

As the guys exited the boys locker rooms, for just a second, Aaron thought he saw Emily disappear around the corner towards the library. He shook his head. That probably wasn't her. Emily didn't have any reason to be near the gym this hour.

"Hey, Aaron, have you checked the cast list for drama yet?" asked Dave once the boys took their seats in Behavior.

Hotch sighed in defeat. "No. Haven't had time."

"Aaron Hotchner? Not having time for something? Unheard of," said a voice that the boys instantly recognized as JJ's. Without their notice, she and Penelope had managed to sneak their way into the classroom.

The senior groaned. "Just because-"

Aaron was saved from having to argue with the blonde by the bell. Spencer and Emily slipped into their desks just in time. Gideon began class where they left off on Tuesday.

* * *

At the sound of the last bell, Aaron made a beeline for his locker. He packed up his stuff in rapid time and was off to the auditorium within minutes.

By the time he arrived, there was a small crowd hovering around the bulletin board next to the doors. Aaron made his way over and quickly skimmed the list. The characters were listed in order of importance, so he started at the bottom, automatically assuming he would get a lesser part since he had no real acting experience. When he didn't see his name down there, he moved to the middle of the page. Still nothing. He got to the third name from the top and found his name.

Pirate King: Aaron Hotchner

Aaron couldn't believe it. He got the third most important part. He glanced down at the name after his and was shocked - but for a completely different reason.

Major-General Stanley: George Foyet

Of course Foyet would get that part. The two parts that actually had some conflict between them just had to go to them. Hotch shook his head ruefully.

He heard a small squeal of excitement to his left. He glanced over and saw Haley grinning from ear to ear.

"I got it!" she said exuberantly. "I get to play Mabel!"

Aaron smiled at her. "Congrats!"

"Yeah. Good job, Hals," said a voice behind them. Haley spun around with an angry expression.

"Don't call me that, George," she said harshly.

"Awh. C'mon, Ha-" Foyet tried to say.

"No. We broke up months ago. Leave me alone," she spat.

Foyet took a step back and anger contorted his features. "Waht? So you can spend time with this loser?" He gestured to Aaron. "Haley, it was just a mistake-"

"A mistake? A MISTAKE?" Haley was yelling now. "You cheated on me George!"

Before Foyet could make another attempt to speak, Haley snatched up her backpack and marched angrily into the auditorium. Aaron frowned at Foyet and then followed Haley inside.

He debated whether to approach her. He didn't like seeing her upset, but, on the other hand, he didn't want her to think he was just trying to comfort her so she would like him. Maybe he was overthinking this whole thing. Aaron steeled his nerves and walked down to where she sat.

"Haley?" he asked putting as much concern as possible into his tone.

She glanced up angrily, but when she realized it was him her expression softened. "Hi, Aaron."

He cleared his throat nervously. "C-Can I sit with you?"

Haley shot him a sad smile but nodded.

"Thanks." He took the seat on the end of the row. Haley's stuff sat on the chair between them.

He was about to speak again but at that moment, Mr. Rain decided to begin.

"Hello students. It's script day. When I call your name come up and get your scripts…."

Aaron's question would just have to wait.

* * *

 **A/N: And there's that. No new people this chapter. Except for Jack, but he's special.**

 **Okay, I sorta rushed this in order to finish. Like I said at the beginning, I've been super busy and I think I'm getting sick. Yippee! So this probably isn't my best work but all the important parts are in there... I think.**

 **I also apologize in advance for any and all complaints against Hotch's role in the play. Everything is the way it is for a reason!**

* * *

 **Next time: The Second Date - JJ**


	9. The Second Date - Jennifer Jareau

**A/N: He-he. I'm back~! Yeah this took a while but I have good reason. It's known as real life. AKA teachers deciding that Friday is the perfect day to make EVERY SINGLE long term project that I've barely worked on due. That and this chapter wasn't really working with me. I rewrote this several times and I had to cut out a huge bit in the middle because it just wasn't fitting right. But I won't bore you with all this crap.**

 **Review responses at the bottom!**

 **Now get reading!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **IMPORTANT: This chapter is actually in two perspectives. You'll find out who as you read.**

* * *

 **Date:** Sunday, 9/5/15

* * *

JJ was in a panic. She had just gotten out of the shower and it was 1:30 already. Will was picking her up at 5:00. That only gave her four hours and thirty minutes to get ready! That wasn't nearly enough time.

When she expressed this sentiment to her mom, she just laughed. "Honey, you have plenty of time."

JJ had simply responded with a dumbfounded expression. She shook herself back to the present. She checked the clock, 1:33, and dashed up the stairs and into her room. She turned on the music app on her iPhone and set it on shuffle. It began playing and she turned her attention to her closet.

"No. Not this. Too old." With each phrase she rejected another piece of clothing. She grabbed a yellow tank dress two sizes too small and stared at it quizzically. "Why do I even still have this?"

JJ shook her head and tossed it aside. "C'mon! There has to be something in here!"

She spotted a baby blue blouse and instantly knew what she was going to wear. She laid the blouse and a pair of white capri pants on the bed and grabbed her white lace flats from the shoe shelf.

Perfect.

She glanced over at the clock, 1:56. That took way too long!

She moved on to her hair. She stood in front of her mirror and debated what to do with her blonde tresses. She decided to pull some of it back and give the ends a little curl.

JJ loved her hair. She liked the way her blonde locks fell around her face. She wouldn't trade her hair for the world. She knew some girls did not like being blonde, simply for the stereotype that came with it, but she didn't mind. Except when Dave was making jokes at her expense.

JJ stepped back from the mirror and admired her hair. She nodded happily at the finished product.

Makeup time. JJ usually refrained from wearing too much makeup. In her opinion, beauty came from inside a girl. Besides, she didn't like the way it clung so heavily onto her skin or the gaudy way some of the girls at school wore theirs. However, this was a special occasion, so she would wear a bit more than usual.

She slapped on some foundation, eyeshadow, and mascara and decided that was enough. She could put on lipstick right before Will got there.

That was right! Will!

JJ hurriedly looked at the clock. Only 2:25.

Maybe her mom was right - maybe she didn't need to rush so much.

* * *

Penelope was giddy with excitement. She had overheard Will ask JJ out on Friday and was overjoyed at the prospect. She was so happy for her friend. JJ had told her all about her crush on Will.

Penelope was reminded of her terrible, brilliant idea: she was going to follow them around on their date!

She would need a black ninja outfit - check. A camera - check. And a getaway driver. She thought for a moment. Hotch was out since he would never agree to it. So was Dave because of his car troubles. It was only one o'clock so Emily was probably still asleep and Spencer couldn't drive. That left Derek.

Perfect.

She snatched up her cell and dialed him. He picked up after the third ring.

" _Hello? Babygirl? What's going-"_

Penelope giggled madly into the phone.

" _What did you do?"_ He asked with amused suspicion. She could almost hear him quirking his eyebrows.

"Nothing yet," she replied. "But I was wondering if you'd be willing to drive me around town while I stalk JJ on her date?"

There was a pause then Derek asked, " _JJ's going on a date?"_

Penelope humped. "Yes, Derek, a date. You know, just because a girl-"

" _Not what I meant, babygirl!"_

"Oh. Sorry."

" _I'll drive you around, but tell me what's going on first."_

Penelope squealed as he reminded her of the whole point of this call. She had been dying to tell someone this story since Friday. "So, Friday afternoon….."

* * *

 _JJ and Penelope made their way through the halls toward their lockers. They usually left Behavior together since their lockers were right next to each other. At the beginning of the year, JJ had actually traded a better locker assignment to be next to Penelope. Penelope was so happy when she found out. It was a true show of friendship._

 _The two blondes were talking about Gideon's empathy project._

" _I just don't know who to do," JJ said wearily. "Have you figured your's out?"_

" _Yeah. Her name's Monica. She's in my fifth hour free period," Penelope stated._

" _Lucky you," she said sadly._

" _Why don't you do Will?" Penelope elbowed the other girl playfully. "It'd be a good excuse to "_

 _JJ froze for a second, but quickly shook her head. "No. We're, uh, too close."_

 _Penelope narrowed her eyes at JJ's strange behavior. She knew about the crush but JJ had told her she was over Will. She shook her head and brushed it off. JJ would tell her what was going on when she was ready._

" _Okay then…. How 'bout Kate? You two used to be good friends. This would be a great chance to reconnect with her!" Penelope suggested excitedly._

 _JJ considered it for a moment. "Yeah, maybe. I bet she's changed enough for it to work."_

 _The girls turned the corner and approached their lockers. To their surprise Will was waiting for them._

" _Hi, JJ," he said. He nodded a greeting. "Penelope." Both blondes picked up the nervousness coursing through his tone._

" _Hi Will," JJ greeted. Penelope noticed her cheeks turning a little pink._

 _The boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um, I just wanted to ask… If-if we were still on for tomorrow?"_

 _Penelope blinked, processing the question. Slowly her face broke into a wild grin. JJ noticed and her eyes widened in panicked fear. The smaller blonde turned to Will._

" _Yes," JJ said quickly. "You should run now. Penelope's about to explode."_

 _Will's eyes widened and he started to back away. Once he was out of sight, Penelope released all her pent up excitement with an overjoyed squeal._

" _I can't believe you didn't tell me you guys were dating!" she screamed in delight._

" _Can we not do this here?!" JJ asked glancing around. The other students were staring at the two blondes._

 _Penelope rolled her eyes and dragged JJ into a nearby empty classroom, but her excitement remained._

" _Now, why didn't you tell us?" she demanded._

 _JJ wouldn't meet her eyes. The other blonde was obviously embarrassed. "I don't know. Maybe because I knew you would react like this."_

 _Penelope laughed. "Regardless of when you told me I would react like this. Everyone else would be just as happy too."_

 _JJ let out a timid laugh. "Yeah. I guess you're right."_

" _So what was the real reason?" Penelope pressed._

 _JJ sighed and shrugged. "I just- I wasn't really sure what it all meant, I guess. He asked me to help him plan Homecoming and I called it a date. But that - that was like three weeks ago. I honestly didn't think it was going to go anywhere. But then he called me up again two Mondays ago and asked me to go with him and-"_

" _Calm down, Jayje. Breathe," Penelope said. "I don't want you to faint from talking too fast."_

 _The other blonde nodded absent-mindedly. She started up again, but slower this time. "He asked if I had any plans for this weekend, and I said I was free, so we're going out tomorrow. He's going to pick me up at three and we're going out to eat and then to a drive-in movie."_

" _That's so romantic! What are you gonna see?" asked Penelope curiously._

 _JJ snorted at her friend's excitement. "I don't know. He said he wanted it to be a surprise."_

" _Sounds fun," Penelope said smoothly. A terrible, brilliant idea was forming in her mind._

 _JJ watched the other girl suspiciously. Penelope was renowned for being a little….nosey, when it came to romance. And everything else for that matter._

" _You better not do anything," the smaller blonde warned._

 _Penelope smiled innocently. "What could I possibly do, Jayje?"_

" _Whatever," said JJ, shaking her head in amusement. "Let's get out of here."_

 _Penelope glanced up at the wall clock and her eyes widened in panic. "Holy sparkles! I'm gonna miss the bus!"_

* * *

"...And so I made it to the bus, stuff happened, and then I called you," Penelope concluded.

There was a short pause and then a slow "okay" from Derek. Penelope realised that she may have given more information than he wanted or needed.

"Anyway, will you drive me?"

Derek sighed with fake annoyance. "I already said yes, babygirl."

"Oh….Right. So, can you pick me up at four thirty?"

"Sure. See ya then."

"Bye-bye, hot stuff," she said, then hung up. Penelope squealed once more in delight and then began to compile everything she would need.

* * *

By the time five o'clock rolled around, JJ had been pacing anxiously for a little over an hour. Nothing she did was a good enough distraction. She kept her eyes on the clock as if she could will the hands to move faster.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and JJ nearly ran to the door. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and looked herself over, making sure everything was in place. When she was done, she pulled the door open and smiled.

Will was there, smiling back, and JJ flushed.

"Hi."

"Hi."

There was silence for a moment and then Will broke it with a cough.

"So… Um, shall we go?" he asked nervously.

Her smile never dropped. "Yep."

Will grabbed her hand, flushing, and pulled her to his truck.

* * *

Penelope watched JJ's house with a fierce expression. Derek was mildly amused at how dedicated to being a busybody the blonde was.

"Look!" she exclaimed and pointed out the windshield. "Will's here!"

Derek had parked his car far enough away that they wouldn't be too suspicious, but it didn't give him a very good view of the house, so he had to crane his neck to see Will's car pull up to JJ's house.

The two "spies" watched as Will exited his green truck, approached the house, and rang the doorbell. After a moment, JJ answered. They talked for a little bit, then Will pulled JJ to his vehicle and they drove off.

Penelope's eyes widened in panic. She started slapping his arm excitedly. "C'mon! C'mon! Let's go! Don't lose them!"

"I'm going. I'm going," Derek chuckled, putting the car in gear. He pulled the car away from the curb and followed the couple as they drove out of the neighborhood.

* * *

A hostess showed JJ and Will to a table in the patio area. It had a great view of the park nearby and JJ smiled as she watched the people walking around. Couples held hands and talked happily. Children pulled at their parents hands in their rush to get to the playground. A soft breeze rustled the leaves and a decorative fountain gurgled nearby.

"It's beautiful," JJ sighed contentedly.

Will pulled out her chair and she sat. "Yeah. That's why I asked for this table."

She glanced at him. "You've been here before?"

Will nodded absent-mindedly. "My dad used to bring me to the park for my birthday."

"Oh." JJ didn't really know what to say. Will hadn't talked much about his father after his death, but she couldn't fault him for that. JJ didn't like talking about her sister either.

Before she could completely lose herself in sad memories, the waitress came back.

"What can I get you two to drink?" she asked peppily.

"Uh, can I get a…." JJ hurriedly scanned the drink options, "a lemonade?"

"Sure," the waitress said. "And you, sir?"

"I'll have a sweet tea," Will replied.

The waitress nodded. "I'll get those right out to you."

The young couple nodded and thanked her.

* * *

As Derek pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, Penelope spotted JJ and Will sitting on the terrace.

"Look!" she said, pointing them out once more.

Derek nodded and parked the car. However, neither got out.

After a moment of silence, Derek asked, "So…. What now?"

Penelope shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't really get this far in my planning."

Before Derek could respond, he was interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. Both passengers froze in surprise, but then burst into laughter.

Once they calmed down, Derek grinned. "Well I know what my stomach wants to do. You?"

Penelope shook her head amusedly. "I think we're in agreement then. Let's get some food."

* * *

After two hours the sun began to set and Will announced they had to get going or they would miss their movie. Derek and Penelope barely made it out before them.

The nearest drive-in was about thirty minutes away. Derek followed at a safe distance and Penelope noted how safe a driver Will was - earning him several "good boyfriend" points. She smiled to herself at the term. She and JJ had come up with it when they stalked Emily on one of her dates with Ian. At that, she frowned. Ian had few boyfriend points and, in all honesty, Penelope didn't really like him all that much.

Derek noticed her sullen expression. "Hey, babygirl, what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing. Just thinking about Emily and her boyfriend."

Derek cocked an eyebrow. "That Ian guy?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I don't really like him."

"Good. I'm not the only one then," he chuckled.

Penelope's brow furrowed in confusion. "What? You only met him once."

"Nope. I see him everyday. He's in my Trig and Chemistry classes."

"How often do you talk?" Penelope asked pointedly. She didn't know why but she felt as though they were arguing.

Derek shrugged. "Not much."

"Then how can you know his character?"

"I don't," he said, shrugging again. "But that doesn't mean I can't make a judgement about him. Like Gideon says, judging people is an instinctual response. It keeps us out of danger."

Penelope thought about this for a second and then sighed. "You're right," she said apologetically. "But why don't you like him?"

"I don't know. He just rubs me the wrong way I guess. He doesn't seem very trustworthy."

Penelope nodded. "I know. He and Emily fight a lot and JJ says that Emily is constantly complaining about how he only wants her for sex. Not to mention that he's cheated on her multiple times."

"Why is Emily still with him then?" Derek asked, shocked.

"No idea." Penelope shook her head sadly. "They break up a lot too, but she keeps coming back to him. He's taking advantage of her vulnerability," Penelope finished angrily.

Derek decided to lighten the mood. "Looks like Gideon _has_ taught you something." Penelope punched his arm playfully. "But Emily? Vulnerable?"

The blonde laughed. "She may seem like an ice queen but we all saw through her long ago. Ian gives her the attention and the love that she doesn't get from her mother."

"But we're her friends. Does that count for nothing?"

"It's a different type of love, Derek. We have our own lives and stuff; a romantic relationship is different."

Will took a sudden exit and Derek had to scramble to keep up. Thankfully, he made it without incident, but their previous conversation was essentially over. A few more minutes of driving and they were at the outdoor theater. Penelope looked up at the list of movies playing tonight and chuckled.

Derek glanced at her, curiosity written all over his face. "What's so funny?'

"He's taking her to see Ant-Man."

"So?"

"Will's done his research; JJ's a huge Marvel fanatic."

"She is?" he asked incredulously.

Penelope laughed at Derek's astounded expression. "Yep. She tries to hide it though."

"Huh," said Derek, obviously mulling over the new information. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Learn something new everyday."

* * *

JJ's eyes brightened as she read the titles of the movies.

"Will!" she exclaimed excitedly. "They're playing Ant-Man!"

The boy just chuckled. "I know. That's why we're here."

JJ blinked twice, realising how obvious that was, and blushed. Will pretended not to notice as he pulled forward and paid for the tickets. They were cheaper than expected, but he honestly wouldn't mind if they were twenty dollars a peice - JJ was worth it.

They pulled into a parking spot that was the perfect distance from the screen. JJ made to open her door but Will stopped her.

"One second," he said. "I've got another surprise in the back."

So JJ sat there, in excited anticipation, as Will excited the car. She couldn't think of what he could possible have back there that was better than what they had already done tonight. She got so lost in her musing, that she didn't even realize Will was back until a knock came from her window. JJ jumped at the sudden noise, startled. She glanced out her window to see Will standing there with a wide grin on his face.

He popped open her door and bowed. "M'lady," he spoke in deep gravelly voice.

JJ giggled and decided to play along. "M'lord," she said and curtsied.

Will held out his arm as if he were escorting her to a ball and she took it.

"Close your eyes," he whispered in her ear.

She did and he led her forward and around what could only be assumed as the side of the truck. They came to a stop and Will said she could look.

JJ gasped her eyes slid open.

The bed of the truck was a nest of comfort and cushion. Pillows were set along the edges with a huge pile of them up against the back. Blankets of every texture and every color, covered every surface. Will had even brought an inflatable air mattress so they wouldn't have to sit on the truck's hard plastic surface.

JJ's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "I-I-I don't know what to say. Will, this is amazing! When did you do it all?"

Will gave an embarrassed chuckled. "Well, I set most of it up at my house. I just had to make sure everything was in the right place. But I'm glad you like it."

"I love it. Thank you," she said, meaning every word.

There was a sweet second of silence, but before it could get awkward, Will spoke up.

"So why don't you get settled in and I'll get us some popcorn and drinks. Do you want anything?"

"A root beer would be great. Thanks, Will."

"No problem," he said before dashing off.

JJ smiled as she climbed into the back of the truck and settled herself in. Will was really sweet for doing all this for her and she would have to find away to repay him by the end of the night.

* * *

The credits began rolling and Derek stretched his arms and legs. "That was good movie. Dontcha think?"

Penelope nodded. "Yeah. Better than the previews made it out to be."

"You ready to get going?" Derek asked.

"But JJ hasn't left yet."

Derek rolled his eyes. "They aren't going to do anything else, babygirl. He's just going to take her home. That's it."

Penelope's nose scrunched as she thought it over. Then she sighed. "Alright. Let's go."

* * *

The movie was over sooner than JJ would have liked. She didn't really want to get up from the warm nest of blankets, pillows, and Will. As the night grew colder, the two had scooted closer and closer until they were cuddling. It was a little awkward at first, but they quickly grew to enjoy each other's company.

"Ya know, we should probably get going," Will said shattering the peaceful silence.

JJ sighed but got up anyway. Will quickly made his way to the ground. He held out his hand to help her down. He packed up the truck bed and she moved to the cabin. Will joined her soon after.

Another soft quiet fell over them on the ride back. No one spoke and both were fine with that. They soon arrived at JJ's house. They got out and Will walked her to the door.

"Thanks so much for tonight," JJ said as they walked.

"You're welcome, JJ."

"This has been the best night I've had in awhile."

"Better than our last date?" Will asked sardonically.

JJ laughed. "Definitely."

They arrived at the porch and silence descended once more.

"Um, Will," JJ said quietly.

He looked up and she quickly pressed her lips to his. She broke off the kiss a second later.

"See you Monday," she said, pulling her front door open and slipping inside.

Will just stood there stunned.

* * *

 **No characters this time!**

 **So onto reviews!**

 **JuliaBC: I checked out your story and some others and they've really helped. Thanks. And I'm glad you like the characters. That's honestly the hardest part.**

 **Etolrah: Here's the chapter. As promised. Thanks for the confidence boost by the way. Personally, I thought including Jack in that way was a stroke of brilliance. (I was writing it in class and I let loose a evil chuckle and it totally threw everyone for a loop. It was pretty funny.) Also, I either corrected the things you mentioned or they were meant to be that way. I can't remember. Take care of yourself as well.**

 **Mossnose173: Thanks. Jack will be showing up again sooner or later.**

* * *

 **Interesting factoid: The next time this will be updated is late May/early June. "Why?" you ask. Well, to put it simply, the school play, FINALS (ugh!), class float trip, one week of summer camp, and the possibility of getting a job/taking creative writing and college algebra over the summer! Yipee... * _Insert eye roll here_ * (I honestly don't know which is worse: finals or algebra!)**

 **But that's beside the point. I'm still going to try and write chapters on paper, however it may be awhile before I can actually _type_ them out. So don't worry. I'm still writing over here. And even if I'm writing for other fandoms, I really like this story and I am still working on it. Just wanted to let you know so nobody freaks out or anything!**

* * *

 **Next time: The Student Council - Mateo Cruz**


	10. The Council - Mateo Cruz

**Heyyyyyyy everybody... So I'm back! Excuses for the lack of an update can be found at the end of the chapter. But for now...**

 **Reviews!**

 **WriterNicole: Everything you said is very true. But I might be needing that debate stuff soon. I hope you're done... ;-P**

 **jayjrat: I'm super sorry that this took soooo long (and is super boring) but here's the next chapter!**

 **Etolrah: Yes, that chapter was super fun. I actually used the JJ and Will parts for a homework assignment a week later. =-D Thank you so much for all the kind words. They mean a lot since I wasn't too sure about the romance aspect.**

 **Now then, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Date:** Monday, 9/7/2015

* * *

Mateo Cruz sighed as he entered Quantico High that Monday morning. He slept little last night. He had barely a month of Senior year under his belt and the stress was already getting to him. People always said Senior year was supposed to be the easiest, but as far as Mateo was concerned they were dead wrong. Between classes, the student council, his part-time job, his schedule was packed.

Not to mention all the college pressure.

Mateo knew exactly what he want to major in and what he wanted to go into, so he didn't have it as bad as some. But the pressure was still hanging above his head.

Someone bumped into him from behind, knocking him out of his thoughts. Before Mateo could even glance at the person, they rushed off without so much as a muttered apology.

He shrugged it off without another thought. It was a normal occurrence in the crowded hallways. The person was probably just late to class and rushing to get there before the bell.

Mateo blinked. That was right. He had a class to go to. What did he have first?

He shook his head. Civics. With Principal Strauss.

Cruz sighed again. He must really be out of it if he was forgetting what his classes were.

* * *

When the last bell rung, Mateo sighed in relief. He was so glad the school day was over even though he couldn't go home just quite yet. He still had a student council meeting to get to and soccer practice after that. Nevertheless, he was thankful that the school part of school was over and done with. At least for today, that is.

It wasn't like Mateo hated or even strongly disliked school. He knew it was necessary evil so he could get the job he wanted. For the most part, the work wasn't all that hard, his classmates weren't the worst people to walk the face of the planet, and the teachers he had this year were some of the best he had ever had. Mateo's only complaint about Quantico High, and school in general, was that it was too repetitive. Nothing ever changed. Every day it was the same classes with the same students with the same teachers. He knew that a repetition was simply a part of life but that didn't make it any less boring.

But right now, he needed to get to the council meeting.

Cruz grabbed his laptop from his locker and made his way to the meeting room. He waved to his friends as they passed by, but he couldn't afford to be late. It wouldn't look very good for the president to be tardy to his own meeting.

If he was late, Cochran would try to use it as an excuse to replace him. Again. Mateo scowled. Brian Cochran was quite possibly the bane of his existence. Mateo could usually find the good in people, but not Cochran. They were both seniors and Mateo was glad that the only subject they shared was Civics. He honestly didn't think he'd be able to take much more of the other senior's presence than that.

Cruz reached the Council room and was surprised to find both Kate and Will already there. The two sophomores were avidly discussing something that Mateo could only assume to be plans for the Homecoming dance. Now that he thought about it, he should probably check up on their progress.

"How the dance coming along?" he asked. Will jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice, but Kate simply nodded absentmindedly.

Kate scribbled something in her notebook before replying, "Pretty good. Will asked his girlfriend for some ideas, and I have to admit they're pretty good."

Will flushed at the word girlfriend. Mateo smirked. Based on the sophomore's reaction, he would wager that Will had probably never had a girlfriend before.

"I see. So the plans are finished? We have to get them to the school board by Wednesday, you know," he reminded them. "The dance is only three weeks away."

Will finally caught a hold of his voice. "Just about. We gotta go over the budget one more time and then we'll be done."

"Perfect," announced a voice from behind them - scaring Will once again. Mateo turned to the voice's owner, Clyde Easter. Easter was another senior. Mateo wouldn't really consider them friends, but Easter was definitely more tolerable than either Cochran or Askari - the other senior on the council.

Mateo shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to get it together. He took his laptop to the head of the table and began to set up what he'd need for the meeting. The rest of the council members arrived quickly. Cochran turned up with his usual air of snooty superiority about him. Askari came in moments later, followed, as always, by his Junior lackey, Michael Hastings.

Once everyone was seated, Mateo began the meeting.

* * *

 **Unsubs & Characters:**

 **Brian Cochran - 11:9 (Is not related to William Cochran in any way. CM just likes to reuse last names)**

 **Clyde Easter - 6:16**

 **Tivon Askari - 9:14**

 **Michael Hastings - 9:14**

* * *

 **Now then, the part you've all been waiting for! Why I've been gone for three months.**

 **1\. Dealing with the emotional turmoil Derek Morgan caused by leaving the show and trying to figure out how to write this without him in it. In the end, I decided that it would be easier all around to simply keep everything how it is and see how things in the show progress.**

 **2\. Expansion of interest. Over the summer, I wrote quite a few stories for the Hetalia fandom. (Gotta share the love around, ya know?) I'm a huge anime fan and while taking a peek at the lovely scenery over there, I got lost in a forest of 118,000 fanfics. As you can see, it took a while to find my way out.**

 **3\. It was summer. This is probably the least impressive answer, but who wants to think (much less write) about school during summer vacation!?**

 **So, sorry for the absence but now that school has started up again, I hope to have more ideas and inspiration for this. I'm definitely not giving it up, so please don't give up on me.**

* * *

 **Next time: Now Hiring - David Rossi**


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